Bleached Wings
by King-Sideswipe
Summary: After losing his powers, Ichigo found living a normal life boring and wanting more. Never in his wildest dreams would he find himself kidnapped and forced to undergo experimentation that would forever change his world. For better or worse he has yet to figure out. One-shot of sorts and AU later on. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**I present to you *drum roll* my first crossover!**

 **Little back story. I got bored and read some fanfictions of Bleach and Maximum Ride and while they were okay, they aren't great either. If there is one way to get me to stop reading a fanfiction, it's when the author puts no attempt in trying to research. Seriously. People gave Ichigo wings and his wings were #1: Too small, #2: Not even real bird colors. They just slapped together colors that would look good on him. Guys. News flash. James Paterson used real birds to make our favorite bird kids. So what did I do? Did my research and found a perfect bird that matches Ichigo. What is it you might ask? Simple. It's a Swallow Tailed Kite. Beautiful birds, lemme tell ya. Not only are they a type of bird of pray, but they are capable of both high and low speeds thanks to that forked tail of theirs. In other words perfect for our favorite Strawberry.**

 **I'm not planning on making this into a story, however if it becomes popular enough, I just might add more. Maybe. Depends on how I feel. I've got an idea of what I would want to do if I were to keep writing this though.**

 **I'll stop talking now.**

 **Sorry about the tenses, still working on those ^^;**

 **Last but not least, I OWN NOTHING NOR AM MAKING MONEY FROM THIS. This is just something I came up with for the fun of it. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo and Maximum Ride goes to James Paterson!**

 **Alright, now I'll stop talking and let you get on with the story.**

 ** _Bleached Wings_**

Ichigo absentmindedly tapped his pencil on his desk as he tried to solve a math problem. With head on hand he glanced out the window to the sky dotted with puffy white clouds, eyes landing on a small bird flitting around. A small pang filled his chest.

He misses it. He missed it all. The way his life uses to be until that day he defeated that traitor, Aizen.

A year. It has been a year since he was forces to give up his powers or risk a madman ascending the throne of the Soul King and becoming 'god.'

A year now of a boring, normal human life. For as long as he could remember he could see ghosts, but for the past year he couldn't. Before they annoyed him at times, but he would do anything to have those times back.

He hated it.

At least he got some excitement from the local thugs wanting to pick fights just because his hair was naturally orange and not colored like everyone thinks.

Ever since he lost his powers, his friends began walking on eggshells around him when it came to the spirit world. Every time he would try to ask how things were going they would always change the subject. Even Chad did it.

He was getting tired. Tired of it all. Tired of the looks of pity, of knowing anything, and most importantly, being weak. His name meant 'One Protector' so how was he supposed to protect his friends and family if he didn't have a clue to what was going on? How was he supposed to protect his friends, who did have powers, without his?

A quite sigh escaped him as the bell chimed signaling the end of the school day. Yet another day of odd jobs around town awaited him...

Putting his school books in his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he headed home. Not before dealing with a wanna-be gang first though. Once that was taken care of, he went home and changed before heading to work.

After an evening filled with heavy lifting, sweating, and a few choice explicits, Ichigo found himself walking the darkened streets not too far from his home with only the streets lights to light his path. A chill found its way down his spine making him shudder. He stopped and stared into the distance. Usually when that happened a hollow appeared somewhere. Even though he could no longer see them, he just knew it was them.

He wasn't sure why he was able to feel when one was around, but if he was to warrant a guess, then it was probably due to having fought them for the short period of time he did and his soul recognized their presence even if he no longer had any power to see them. Maybe his soul was trying to warn him? It wouldn't surprise him. After all, his Hollow tried to kill him a few times so he would actually listen to his instinct more and follow it. He supposed he should have thanks the bastard before he lost his powers.

Feeling the tingling chill again he began to move again. Out of the corner of his eye he watched a black van with its headlights off roll up next to him and stop. Something inside him spurred him to move.

Ichigo burst into a run. However, he didn't make it far when he heard feet pounding into the ground behind him before something barreled into him. Both him and his assailant fell to the ground hard with Ichigo underneath, taking the brunt of the fall with a grunt, earning scrapes on his hands, knees, and chin.

Not waiting to slid to a complete stop, Ichigo twisted and snapped back his arm, elbow smashing into what felt like a nose. They let out a grunt of pain of their own as something wet seeped through his shirt's sleeve. Before he could fight any further to escape something grabbed the back of his head and smashed it into the ground.

Ichigo fell limp as his consciousness faded to black.

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

Waking with a throbbing headache Ichigo knew this would be a bad day. Waking in the back of a dark and bouncing cargo plane? Horrible day. Waking to find himself in what felt like a metal cage meant for a dog? Scratch that, this is going to be a _great_ day!

Note sarcasm.

Feeling something stiff on his cheek, making it itch, he raised a hand and scratched. Pulling his fingers away and rubbed them he felt something gritty. Smelling it he winced. Blood.

Swallowing his panic, Ichigo felt around the cage to find a latch. After a bit of searching he finally found a latch. Just as he reached his finger through the openings in the bars the plane hit turbulence, jolting him forward to hit his already bruised face into the cage.

Falling back on his back he swore as he held his once again bleeding forehead, attempting, and failing, to ignore his twice as throbbing brain.

Suddenly the overhead lights flicked on. Before succumbing to the pain, Ichigo was able to catch a glimpse of dozens of cages like his own lining the walls of the plane, stacked on top of her. What caught his eye wasn't the cages themselves. No, it was what was within.

Children.

Each cage had _children._ All ranging from a few years old to his own age.

Disgust filled him as he fell unconscious again.

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

Upon waking again, Ichigo found himself strapped to a cold table in a too bright room. His head pounded and the light wasn't helping in the slightest.

He bit his tongue and held back a groan and rolled his head to the side to get a look at his surroundings only to freeze and hiss as the world around him spun. Stinging bile rose in his throat. He quickly swallowed. Running through a mental list of symptoms he came to a conclusion. Concussion. However, he couldn't be sure, but it was the most likely with his recent series of head-blows.

His stomach chose that moment to make itself known.

Great. Not only was he possibly concussed but he was hungry as well. On top of that it looked like he was in some sterile white room that wasn't helping in the slightest with his throbbing headache. Besides himself, he couldn't hear or see anyone else. Not that he really looked since he felt like he would fall off the planet if he moved his head.

A door opened to reveal a balding older man wearing a whitecoat talking in an unfamiliar language to three others, also wearing the same whitecoat, walking behind him. One of them pushing a cloth covered cart.

"What's going on?" Ichigo questioned them around a sore and dry throat. "Where am I?"

His questions went ignored. Either that or they didn't understand him.

The balding man put on a pair of latex gloves as he approached Ichigo, who at this point was giving his best glare. The man began poking and prodding various areas while making comments every now and then while someone he could only guess to be an assistant wrote something on a clipboard. The other two stood on the other side of Ichigo. All of his protests went unheard.

One of the other two, a woman, uncovered the cart. Unfortunately, it was just high enough so he couldn't see its contents. The woman unwrapped a syringe before picking up a small veil. Taking some of the veil's contents with the syringe she moved toward Ichigo. He tried moving away only to remain in place due to the straps. She forcibly held his head at an angle till his neck towards her was exposed.

"What are you doing?" He struggled against his restraints but to no avail.

His question went unanswered as the tip of the cold needle was placed against the crook of his neck. He winced as it went in and loosed its equally cold contents into his blood system. It was quickly removed and the needle disposed of. Not to long after he began to lose feeling in his body as it unwillingly relaxed due to the anesthesia.

 _At least the headache is gone,_ where his last thoughts as he fell asleep.

Over the next few hours Ichigo awoke several times but wasn't able to do anything each time except let the anesthetics to bring him back under.

The first time he woke he found himself on his front with what faintly felt like poking. The next time he awoke to find himself on his back once again, this time alone. He stayed there like that for a few hours before the woman came back to inject him with more anesthesia.

This process repeated several times. And each time he had time to think.

Where was he? What was this place? Who were these people? What did they want with him? The questions wouldn't stop and remained unanswered.

His thoughts wandered to his family. Were they alright? Where they looking for him? Did they get caught by these whack jobs as well? Ichigo wasn't worried about his father, he knew the old fool could take care of himself. He was more concerned for his sisters. Sure Karin could take care of herself, but against someone twice her size and weight? She wouldn't stand a chance. He worried more about Yuzu. She was the pacifist of the family and didn't know how to fight. She hated the idea.

His heart clenched at the idea of her being strapped to the same table, terrified.

Ichigo quickly banished the thoughts. They were fine. They had Goat-Face to watch over them as well as Chad and Uryu. They each would go to Hell and back to make sure they were safe. With that he was reassured and knew he didn't need to worry.

That led to more questions.

How long had he been here? Days? Weeks? Months? Well probably not months. He had no way of knowing unless someone finally decided to answer his questions. That wasn't likely since he stopped talking when no one answered his questions. Didn't mean he wouldn't try every time he saw someone knew though. And by no means has he given up. As soon as someone lets their guard down he would get out of here.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he was allowed to fall asleep on his own without someone forcing him to.

A few hours later he was awakened to those same voices he first heard here, still speaking that different language. They were messing with machines, big and small, that had been wheeled in during his unwanted stay. The only machine he recognized was the one that monitored a patient's vitals. Anything else? He was at a loss of what they did.

Being attached to the multitude of machines was not a pleasant process. It wasn't like in a hospital where they used sticky pads to keep a wire attached. No. These were much worse.

On his chest over his heart, and other various places, was strapped a metal plate with sharp, thin protrusions, each varying in length and each pressed into his skin till they reached muscles underneath and past. His shirt had been long ago cut away, same with the rest of his clothes so he lay bare to the world. Luckily they were nice enough to preserve his dignity by covering him a thick leather strap.

Each part of his body where a major bone lay, except for his skull, had the same metal plate with the protrusions digging into his self. The only one not over a bone was the one at the base of his stomach.

Each time a plate was pushed into place he was forced to hold back his shouts of pain. It wasn't till a strap was placed on his forehead and chin, and one in his mouth, did he truly start to worry.

Then came the helmet.

It was like something out of a movie or cartoon. It looked like a metal water strainer with rods sticking out of half of them, wires connected to each one creating a jumbled mess where they all came together to one of the machines.

When it was put on they strapped it tight to his head, only some padding on the inside kept the metal from touching his head, before one by one the rods were pressed into him. Ichigo bit and screamed into the leather as each one was slowly pressed down till it stopped at the bone.

By the time they were done he was ready for it all to stop and for him to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

His silent plea for this whole thing to be a bad dream was soon forgotten as new pain he never felt before made itself known at the flick of a switch. This pain was easily worse than hollowfying in Kiske's Shattered Shaft. Worse than dying by the hands of Ulquiorra. Worse than losing his soul reaper powers.

Nothing could describe his pain accurately. There was no pain worse than this. Not now, not ever.

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

Months.

It's been months since he first came here.

Months since the pain started.

And only weeks since he began losing hope it would all end and he would either be found or escape.

Now he was like an empty shell who only felt pain at the hands of those so called "scientists." He was emotionless both inside and out.

How could he not be? All these people cared about was if they could enhance him any further than they already have. They kept him in a only fed him enough to his next meal.

Sometimes he felt it. What they changed in him. Somehow his bones were growing lighter while he grew taller and what baffled him most was how he was losing weight while still maintaining his muscles mass.

After one particularly painful session, if you can call it that, he felt something move on his back. Reaching back, he felt around till his fingers brushed against something small and fuzzy sticking out of his back connected to his shoulder blade. Upon further exploring he found another on his other shoulder blade. Not long after did he discover a small nub coming out of the base of his spine also covered in fuzz. One thought raced through his mind after the discovery.

What were they doing to him?

It was easier for him to keep track of time. Three times a week they would retrieve and repeat the process with the metal plates and helmet. Then he was allowed to rest in the cramped dog cage.

More time passed and the new limbs grew. They lost the fuzz only to be replaced by something small, about an inch or so from how they felt. They almost felt like a bunch of pine needles only it hurt when he tugged on one.

A few weeks after discovering them, the protrusions finally grew enough to know what they were.

Wings.

Those freaks gave him wings _and_ a tail.

He wasn't sure how long he had been here now, but it was long enough for his wings to finish growing to a full 23 feet and his tail feathers to grow until they went past the height of his legs and extended another foot so they trailed along the ground if he wasn't careful. As soon as they were done growing he was put through even more tests, except these ones were about his abilities.

How fast could he run? How much weight could he carry? How good was his new eyesight? His hearing? How smart was he? How fast could he react to a threat?

His favorite part was when he could stretch his wings and fly. Even though it was an enclosed space, he loved the feel of the wind flowing through his hair and over his feathers. It almost felt like he had his powers back. Ichigo wasn't sure what type of bird they used, but it oddly suited him. The flight feathers were all black while a strip of white covered the underside of his wings.

At night worries plagued while he tried to sleep.

Would his family accept this new change? Would they abandon him? Most nights he couldn't sleep because of thoughts like these.

Fortunately for him, this was not one of those many sleepless nights.

 ** _"_** ** _Ichigo…"_**

Until now.

Ichigo bolted awake at hearing a voice he thought he would never hear again.

 _Hollow?!_

So much for sleeping.

 ** _"'_** ** _Bout time ya heard me, King."_**

 _Bu-… But_ how _?_ He questions with disbelief. To say he was shocked was an understatement. _I used the Final Getsuga. I lost my powers. I lost-,_ he cut himself off, not wanting to finish.

 ** _"_** ** _Beats me, King. Last thing I remember was you losin' yer powers and everything goin' black."_** A sigh came from his hollow and Ichigo got the impression his look-a-like was frowning.

 _Wait, what about Zangetsu?_

 ** _"_** ** _Old man is alright. He hasn't woken up though."_**

 _What do you mean?_

 ** _"_** ** _I think it's because you used your soul reaper powers to end Aizen instead of my powers so the Old Man is weaker,"_** he explained.

 _Will he wake up?_

 ** _"_** ** _Dunno. Hope so, so I don't have to deal with you."_**

 _Gee, thanks,_ Ichigo deadpans.

 ** _"_** ** _Any time, Partner!"_** Silence fell between the two until, **_"We'll make them pay, King. We'll bust out of here an' kill them all fer what they did."_**

Ichigo grimaced. He didn't like the idea, but what they have done to innocent children to further their gain couldn't be forgiven. They experimented on them and didn't bat an eye when they became sick and died. How long has this been going on now? Ten? Twenty years? Longer? How many have died at the hands of these monsters? How many more are going to die before the world finds out what is happening?

He steeled his resolve. They will pay with their lives.

An eeire chuckle, one he would never admit to missing, sounded from his inner world. **_"This will be fun…"_**

Pain. It's all he, no _they_ felt. Both of them screamed in agony, voices mixing to become one as the scientists did _something_. Neither was sure what was going on. It felt like they were getting struck by lightning repeatedly while at the same time it didn't. It felt like their insides were being turned inside out and turned to mush, again, at the same time it felt like nothing was happening. Their bones felt like there were ground to dust, but not.

Both ex-soul reaper and hollow thought the whitecoats would be done experimenting on Ichigo by now, now that his wings and tail were fully developed. How wrong they were. They were both quick to realize that no matter what was done to them there was always room for improvement.

Ichigo stained against his restraints as another surge passed through him.

When will this hell end?

After what felt like forever, those metal plates were removed. Ichigo remained limp from the latest treatment, if you can call it that, so moving him was easy. Being placed in a cage by what he was quick to learn were Erasers, wolf-men who were both security and punishers, he was carted away down dreary grey hallways into a dark room. An Eraser flicked on the light to reveal dozens of cages throughout the large room.

In each of the cages held sickly looking child who flinched at the sudden light.

The sight turned his stomach, but he was too weak to do anything right now. He gave no protest as his cage was roughly jolted and slammed onto his place on a shelf. Turning away, the Erasers turn the light off and left. The room fell into darkness, the only sound coming from children whimpering in pain or silently crying.

 ** _"'_** ** _At wasn' so bad. Barely felt it,"_** the hollow slurred. If Ichigo could snort he would.

Closing his eyes, he felt for the familiar path that would bring him to his inner world. Feeling the familiar pulling sensation he opens his eyes to see himself laying on his back surrounded by water. He exhaled and watched the air bubbles float up and out of sight. The sun no longer shone, having been replaced by a crescent blood moon covered by thick clouds a long time ago. Gone were the sideways buildings. The only thing remaining now in this bleak world were small houses and power poles. The only light that shone in this world were the lights from the streetlights and stoplights.

 ** _"'_** ** _Ey, King."_**

Ichigo turns dull eyes toward his hollow to find him leaning against a power pole clutching his side with a forced grin. Ichigo only stared. At one point he would have gotten mad at the sight of his hollow, but not anymore. Now they only have each other in this place of horrors.

"You look like crap," was his only comment before turning to watch the various rising air bubbles that rose from him, his hollow, and the houses.

His hollow really did look horrible with slumped shoulders, sunken eyes with bags under them. The purple contrasted greatly against his pale skin making them stand out even more. If it was possible for his white skin to become paler then it would be. His hair hung limp around his shoulders.

 ** _"_** ** _Me? Ya look in a mirror lately? You look like ya went 'nother round with Grimmkitty."_** The hollow limped toward the prone orange head and sat at his side.

Ichigo sat up, rolling stiff shoulder and maneuvering until he no longer sat on his tail feathers. His wings flared briefly in a stretch before settling back against his back, the large primary feathers stretched over the ground behind him as he leaned back on his hands.

"Can't say I have," he said with a sigh, orange hair floating around his head as he moved. Grabbing a strand and rolls it between his fingers. It now fell just below his shoulders.

 ** _"_** ** _We'll get out of here, King."_** His hollow said, not even bothering to look at him, instead looking forward with distant eyes.

"We keep saying that but have yet to."

 ** _"'_** ** _Cause there hasn't been an openin' yet."_** And they have been too weak to even try so far, but he left that part unsaid.

Ichigo released his hair and rubbed his head with the same hand. "It could be years till we find an opening. I'm not sure I can last that long." The current picked up slightly.

The hollow steeled his gaze into a rare scowl identical to Ichigo's except color. **_"Yer gonna have to if we wanna see our sisters."_**

Ichigo couldn't help but stare at him. "Our?"

The scowl disappeared. **_"'Course dumbass, we're the same. I I protect what is mine which is you and your sisters._** **Our** ** _sisters."_**

Ichigo stared a bit longer before turning away with a small smile. "Thanks."

 ** _"_** ** _Chih, whatever."_**

A comfortable silence fell between the two. The hollow plotting ways to agonizingly kill each of their tormentors. Ichigo on the other hand was thinking about what his hollow had said.

It was odd for a hollow to be protective. That was a Zanpakto's job. Perhaps it was because Zangetsu had yet to wake up. But that didn't make any sense. How was his hollow the one who woke up but not his zanpakto? Perhaps it's like his hollow said and was because he used the Final Getsuga which was a soul reaper power. Possible. However, that didn't explain how his hollow had the large cleaver form or Zangetsu strapped to his back. That had to mean something, but what?

He turned the question over in his head and each time he came up blank. It just didn't make sense. His eyes wandered to the large blue circuit vein-like structure not far in the distance reaching toward the sky and passed the dark clouds, a pulse of lighter blue light going up every few seconds like its own heartbeat. Maybe that had something to do with it? Apparently it's been there ever since his hollow first woke up only it stretched from the clouds. With each of these fun fill treatments it grew longer and longer till it reached the surface and dug into the ground. After that more pillars began coming down around his inner world. According to his hollow it wasn't till it reached the surface that he was able to make contact with Ichigo.

Bubbles rose as he sighed. So many questions and all remained unanswered.

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

Ichigo scratched at his new collar.

It's been about a week since he got it. Since everyone got it. At first he wasn't sure what it was for so he treated it with caution. It's also been a week since those who could walk were allowed into a large open yard surrounded by high wall where they all shambled along in a slow circle. On top of the walls were the new robot Erasers that replaced the living ones a few weeks back. When they were first brought here a few of the newer kids tried to escape only for their new collars to send a nasty shock to their systems, nearly killing them. After that, thought of any rebellion quickly died.

He looked up at the sky, wings twitching at the sight of open air. The only time he was allowed to fly were during those tests in a plane sized hanger. For some reason he couldn't figure out why they stopped all tests last week. Perhaps it had something to do with this new development? Doesn't matter. He was finally get his health back up so he will be able to break out of this place soon.

Someone bumped into his arm making him look down to see a brown haired, brown eyed girl with a few freckles staring up at him.

"That cannot be your natural color. That has to be some side effect or something," was the first thing out of her mouth.

It took a few seconds for him to understand her and when he did he glared. Of course the first thing she said was a comment on his hair. Forget his wings and tail because those are completely normal. Granted here it really was normal…

"So… what if it is?" His speech was slow and halted as he tried to remember his English lessons from before all this. He hoped she understood.

Apparently she did. "It's cool if it is, just not every day you see a Japanese with caution cone orange hair." The girl turned slightly to get a better look at his black wings and forked tail. "So what'd they hit you with? I can see the bird, but anything else?"

He was silent for a few minutes as they shuffled along, trying to make sense of her hushed whispers.

"No. Just bird I think." He wasn't about to tell her that they somehow brought his powers back. "Do you know what is going on?" He motions around them.

She shook her head no. "Not a clue."

He didn't bother hiding his frown. Whatever was going on didn't sit well with him.

"What… about you?" Ichigo knew it wasn't his place to ask, but with her being the only one besides his hollow to talk to he was almost desperate to keep talking. Even if he could barely understand her and speak her language. "What did they do to you?"

It was her turn to scowl. "Cloned me from someone else and tried to get me to replace her."

He stares. How was he supposed to respond to that? If she was a clone, then she never had a childhood. A _proper_ childhood. He looks forward.

"I'm sorry," was his reply. This caused her to frown.

"For what?"

"You never… got to grow up."

"And you did?"

Ichigo's scowl returned full force. "Yeah."

This surprised her. "You weren't born with those?"

His scowl deepened. "No."

Silence fell between the two. Not long after they were marched back inside where the two separated down different corridors.

The next day was the same. He and the other children were marched out to the field though there was something different. It looked like there was some new kids that weren't here yesterday. Before he could follow the train of thought someone bumped into him. Upon looking he saw it was the same girl from yesterday. They were quite for a while before she spoke up.

"So you have any family?"

Not expecting the question, it caught him off guard. "Ah, yeah. Two little sisters." A smile spread across his features at the thought of them. "Karin and Yuzu, they're twins."

And so, even without asking him to, Ichigo began telling her about his family and his father's crazy antics. He made sure to leave out the afterlife as he began telling her about his friends. He wasn't sure why he was telling her all this when he just met her, but he supposed he had to tell someone in case-

A growl from his hollow cut off _that_ train of thought. He sent his silent thanks

He figured since she had no real childhood then perhaps she would like to hear his to help picture her own if she had the chance to have her own. His guess was correct when she asked about his friends and how they interacted.

When they were herded back inside Ichigo was prepared for his group to split up like how it usually happened but he was surprised when he was instead made to follow the others. Passing through a set of large steal doors that looked like it could hold against a nuke Ichigo entered what looked like where everyone lived.

The room was roughly the size of an airplane hangar with the roof being about thirty feet high. The only windows in the room were narrow horizontal slits about a foot or two below the ceiling. Even if he could reach them, they were too narrow for him to fit through. On the stone walls hung massive TV screens, several on each wall, each playing a message in another language, one he didn't recognize. The rest of the room was filled with gray metal bunks, each covered in kicky olive drab army blankets.

At first he was unsure wat to do, but thankfully his talking buddy grabbed his wrist and led him to a bunk towards the far right corner. She motions toward the top of one.

"No one sleeps there so feel free to stay there," she says. Just as she was about to say more the TVs began playing their message in Japanese, earning his attention.

"The time of the Re-Evolution is here!" The woman on screen, a fair-haired woman, said forcefully. Various people in the room cheered. Ichigo wasn't sure where, but he could have sworn he had seen her before.

"We have begun implementing the By-Half plan! Even as you watch this, the weak, the unnecessary, the ones who drain our resources, are being eliminated." More cheers. The woman looked away from the screen with a sincere zeal that made Ichigo's stomach turn. "We are creating a new world. A world where there is no hunger, no sickness, no weakness. The causes of war will be eliminated," she went on earnestly, now looking back at the screen. "There will be plenty of food for everyone. There will be plenty of room for everyone. People will cease to fight over property, food, wealth, energy resources." More cheers then before erupted all around him.

"Remember, the whitecoat continues, "we can't achieve Re-Evolution without you, our chosen ones. All genders are equal. But illness, weakness, and other flaws must be eliminated. So if you know of anyone who experience the glory of martyrdom so that others may live in paradise, please inform your supervisor immediately. It will reflect well on you, and you will be praised." The woman the switched into another unfamiliar language and the message was repeated.

By now Ichigo was sitting on the bottom bunk and his fists were clenching his pants. "Fucking bastards want to kill anyone who they didn't mutate," he said in his native tongue. His thoughts immediately went to his sisters. Were they alright? Did these monsters already get to them? He clenched his teeth.

No. They were fine. Their dad was a soul reaper and wouldn't let anything happen to them.

The girl sat next to him. "No idea what you just said, but I think I get the idea. Unfortunately, we can't do anything or else I would have a long time ago. We're like ants to them."

"I'm going to kill them," he grits out. From his mind he felt his hollow's approval.

His comment threw her off, but hearing the conviction in his voice kept her from saying anything.

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

For the next week they fell into a routine. They would wake, have their measly breakfast in another room and come back. Clean a little then leave for their half-hour walk before coming inside to do more chores and sit around talking. Every other night they were allowed to take a shower, a luxury Ichigo missed dearly. Ichigo got better at both understanding and speaking English thanks to his new friend.

If he was being honest he was hesitant to call her that when it was possible they would never see each other again with the way kids were disappearing every day. Neither knew the other's name, but they were both fine with that.

Deep down both Ichigo and his hollow knew something bad was coming with the way children would disappear and new ones would appear the next day to take their place. They had to make their move and soon. And when they do, they plan on bringing a certain avian clone with they do.

Two weeks later they were walking around as usual in a comfortable silence. That is until she tensed and walks a little faster. Ichigo follows her slightly confused as to what could cause his friend to tense so suddenly only to tense himself when he saw what she saw.

There standing in front of his friend was an exact copy of her. Or rather the other way around since she was the clone. This girl must be the original, he surmised. He walks closer.

"What are you doing here?" She asks stiffly.

"Selling Girl scout cookies," the original says. "Want some? The Samoas are terrific."

His friend started walking next to who she was cloned from, two little girls and a man who looked suspiciously like an Eraser stuck between human and wolf, -and was that a dog?- follow them. He decides to join their little group and listen for now.

"Baa, baa." One of the little girls, a black girl with black curly hair and brown eyes bleated.

The original laughed while his friend only looked at her. "How can you laugh?" she asks, gesturing angrily at the walls, the guard towers, the armed robot Erasers, who everyone called Flyboys, that stood around like remote-controlled puppets.

"Well she baaed like a sheep," the original said. Man, now would be a great time to know their names… "It was pretty funny." She patted the girl's head. "Especially with her lamby hair. Maybe I should call her Lamby from now on." The girl grins up at the original.

His friend began to get angry. "Don't you realize what's going on? Where we are?"

 ** _"_** ** _Ah shit, where's the popcorn?"_** A faint crash could be heard. Ichigo released a mental sigh, but didn't say anything. He'll ask later.

Going unnoticed by the orange head was the little blond girl with blue eyes looking at him curiously before returning her outward attention to what was happening.

"Uh, a honking big castle of evil in Germany?" Original offered. "I've narrowed it down that far."

His friend glanced around, as if making sure they weren't overheard. Most likely so none of the Flyboys overheard. They both trusted none of the other kids to say anything at this point in time.

"This is the last stopping place," she said under her breath, not looking at her copy. "Look around. We're all rejects. They were trying to build an army out of us, but then they got the Flyboys to work. Now we're obsolete. And every day, a bunch of us disappear."

The original studied her clone. "I'm sorry-did I miss something? Last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me. Are we friends now? Did I miss the memo? Now you're clueing me in on the sitch?"

"If you're against them, then we're on the same side," His friend said firmly.

"And what about carrot top back there?" Ichigo blinked in surprise. She looks back at him with a sly smile. "Kinda hard not to realize you're there with hair like that. So what'd they hit you with? Some exotic fish?"

Ichigo scowled at the original copy of his friend as the two little girls and Eraser giggled. "Two things. Number one: It's natural. Number two: They used bird genes."

"Your part avian too?!" the dark skinned girl gasps.

"Yeah, he's like three or four percent," his friend told her.

The original copy rose an eyebrow. "And here I thought everyone passed two percent died."

"What can I say? I have a strong will to survive," was his only comment.

 ** _"_** ** _That's puttin' it mildly…"_**

"Obviously." A few seconds of silence passed between them before she spoke up again. "So since no one is bothering with introductions I guess I'll start. I'm Max and this is Nudge, Angle, Ari, and Total." She gestured to each as she says their name.

Nudge, the dark skinned girl, grinned and waved. Angel, the blonde haired girl, smiled sweetly. Ari, the half-morphed Eraser, gave a timid wave while Total, a black scotty dog, just huffed and glared. Ichigo glared back for a second before turning back to Max.

"Ichigo." He would have given his last name, but in his time here he learned to watch what he said in case one of the Flyboys were to overhear.

"How long have you been here?" Max asks.

His friend only looks away. "Since Florida. They…were really mad that I let you beat me."

"You didn't let me do squat," Max said.

Sighing, she gave a brief nod. "I was supposed to win. I was supposed to finish you off. They never counted on you winning. And then you didn't kill me. It was awful."

"You're welcome," Max said with anger lacing her words. "I'll try not to humiliate you by letting you live next time."

His friend only looks at Max sadly. "There won't be a next time," she said. "I'm telling you, this is the last stop. They brought us here to kill us."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Max says.

"You don't understand," his friend said, agitated. "We're all slated to die. Every day, more of us disappear. When I first came here, this yard was so full, we had to take shifts. There were thousands of us. Now this is all that's left."

Max hums.

"With this many of us, I guess we have until…maybe tomorrow," she said, looking around, mentally calculating.

"Which is why we're leaving tonight. There's a new moon so the only light will be coming from the stars and whatever lights they use."

Max looks back at him, skeptical. "And how exactly do you plan on leaving?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, can't say anything or else they'll be able to stop us." He looks to his friend who had fallen silent. He knew she doesn't like Max, but would she mind if Max and her own friends came with? He would have to ask later.

"So what about you? How long have you been here for?" Max asks him.

He had to think about that. He was almost seventeen when he was first kidnapped and then months on that table… "A year, year and a half I think."

"They took him from his family," his friend mumbles.

Nudge gasps. "You had a family?" With his nod she moves closer and hugs his waist. He blinks down at her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She grins up at him making a smile tug at the corner of his own lips. She let go and grabbed hold of his hand and walks beside him. He doesn't stop her.

"I still have one, but they probably think I'm dead by now. A year and a half is a long time for someone to be missing."

"I guess so. Hey! Maybe when we get out of here you can become a part of our flock. Hey Max, can Ichigo be a part of the flock?" Nudge asks excitedly.

"I don't see why not." Max smirks. "Us birds have to stick together."

Nudge looked so hopeful he didn't have the heart to tell her as soon as he could he would be returning to his home.

"Yeah, maybe…" he says.

For the rest of the time they walked in silence, the only sound coming from Nudge and Total baaing every now and then. When Ichigo first heard total talk he just accepted it. It's not like he wasn't unfamiliar with talking animals. Although if this one can end up turning into a human and said human form was a female he silently promised whoever came up with that design would pay.

Ichigo talked with his hollow about final preparations for their escape and came up with a new backup in case anything went south.

Soon it was time for them to go back inside. Much to his annoyance they were forced to separate and go different ways.

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

Ichigo lay awake that night, spreading his senses out to try and locate Nudge. If he could find her then he was certain he would be able to find the others. After a while he was able to find her smaller power level after that he was quick to finding the rest of her flock.

Just great. They were below the castle.

He pretended to sleep as a Flyboy walked by and as soon as it was gone he sat up and jumped down from his bed, not making a sound. He held out his hand and small blue light particles began gathering and condensing until a large clever blade with a cloth handle and small chain at the end of the guard less hilt had formed. As his sword appeared he quickly ripped off his collar. It was a bit heavier than he thought it would be, but that didn't matter since it was still light enough for him to swing with no trouble.

In a flash of blue, a section of the wall closest to the outside world exploded outward. A cloud of dust filled the air making hard to breath. Almost instantly everyone in the room was awake and coughing. Many got out of their beds and began running about n confusion.

Moving quick, Ichigo grabbed his friend's hand and pulled her toward the large doors. By now loud sirens pierced the air as Flyboys ran into the room. Once there was a gap in the tide of robot Erasers they ran down the hallways, Ichigo following Max and the other's spiritual pressure.

Before he had been horrendous at any sort of control, but thanks to the whitecoats he had better control to the point of locating others with little trouble.

"Where'd you get the huge ass sword from?!" His friend questioned frantically.

"Later. We need to find the others before they figure out what's going on." He said with a scowl. Even though he desperately wanted to tell her, he couldn't. Not yet. Not while they were still in the belly of the beast.

"Fine, but you better start explaining as soon as we're free."

His only response was a grunt.

They came across more Flyboys but none stood a chance against Ichigo and his large cleaver sword. All were cut down within seconds of being seen. If there was one thing he was happy about was the fact that he didn't have to take any lives other than mechanical in order for them to escape.

After cutting through a steel door as if it were made of butter they ran down a flight of stairs so find a pitch black room blaring that insane woman's propaganda through unseen speakers and four humans and a dog -well four sort of humans- and each was chained to the wall. Acting fast he cut each of their chains till only the cuff remained around their ankles.

"So is this your great escape?" Max asks as Ichigo cuts the last of their chains.

"Yeah, now if you want to get out of here alive I recommend holding back those sarcastic comments you love oh so much and save your breath for running," Max's clone replied, not being in any mood to deal with her copy at the moment. All she wanted to do right now was to escape and get the hell out of Dodge. As she spoke Ichigo worked on getting everyone's collars off.

"Look, I'll explain everything later, but right now we need to leave before we lose our distraction." With that said he turned and ran back up the stairs, the others quickly following behind.

He heard a gasp as they passed the sliced through door. He paid it no mind and kept running. His only priority right now was making sure they all got out of here relatively unharmed.

Of course it was just his luck for a large group of Flyboys heading straight for them. Gritting his teeth he quickly disappeared from sight and made quick work of the two dozen robots. He reappeared on the other side of the mess.

"You coming or what?" He called back with his infamous scowl in place before taking off.

"Where the hell did you find this guy?" He heard Max ask as they all started running after him again.

His hollow snorted. **_"Show off."_**

 _Shut up, we have more important things to worry about._

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah, yeah..."_** His voice faded away.

"So do you have any idea where we're going?" Max asks him.

"Yeah," was his only response. He wasn't about to tell them he manifested his hollow to help find the way out while he and his friend rescued Max's flock. Probably wouldn't believe him anyways.

 ** _"_** ** _Found it. Yer not far."_** Just as he said this his hollow flared his spiritual pressure. If Ichigo hadn't been with them, then he was positive the others wouldn't be able to breath, much less move.

 _"_ _What the hell are you doing?!"_

 ** _"_** ** _What's it feel like, I'm fighting,"_** came his glee filled response. **_"Unless ya really want more of these things shootin' at ya."_**

 _"_ _Fine, fine, I don't care. Just make sure you're gone when we get there."_

 ** _"_** ** _No promises~"_** His hollow cackled before his voice faded away. Just then there was an explosion in the compound.

"Damn hollow…" Ichigo muttered.

"What was that?" Ari asked.

"What else, an explosion," Max's clone answered.

"What's a hollow?" Nudge asks.

"Later," he repeated.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Max demanded.

"Pretty much." Max opened her mouth to retort back, but Ichigo interrupted her. "C'mon, we're not far."

"Wait…" Nudge speaks up. "Why are we going _towards_ the explosion? Shouldn't we be running _away_ from them?"

"There! See! Logic from the eleven-year-old! Now tell us something so we're not left in the dark will ya?"

Ichigo ground his teeth to keep from snapping at them. He didn't have time for this. They were almost out of this place and soon, very soon, he would get to hold his sisters in his arms again. "Look, all I can say right now is there is someone out there right now providing a distraction and we'll get out in the confusion that way."

"Wait," his friend spoke up, confused. "There's someone else who knows of the plan? I thought we were the only two who knew of it."

"It's hard to explain right now, just hang on until we get to someplace safe."

As they ran they came across sparking Flyboys cut clean in half or blown up, black scorch marks maring the wall and ceiling of where they blew. Debris from the walls and roof littered the floor, becoming more and more the closer they got to the front door.

"Wait!" Max calls, sliding to a halt, everyone else doing the same. "While we're here, we need to destroy this place so there won't be any more experimenting going on. We also need to gather information on the other Itex locations so we can destroy those too."

"We can do that later, right now we need to get out of here!" Ichigo shouted at her.

"No! We need to do it now while we still have a chance!" Max turns around and begins to run only to stumble to a stop when she sees what is in front of her.

Standing there was a man with a black skull mask with sharp horns pointing strait at her. On the mask there were two horizontal stripes running from the sides of his jaws up over his eyes and to the back of the mask where two points of white pointed forward, both only reaching the forehead. He was wearing some kind of white cloak with black fur on the hems of his sleeves, collar, and the bottom of his coat which fell to just above their _clawed_ feet. His hands were also clawed, one of them gripping a long white blade that was easily as tall as the man was. What skin was showing was bone-white. His white hair fell around his hips and she could just barely see the edges of a white tail and wings.

However, none of this made her stop, no not even the sword. It was his eyes. They were pitch black holes of _nothingness_ making her heart freeze.

Gasps of surprise and fear rang up behind her, but she paid them no mind. She couldn't because she felt that if she turned away this monster would lash out and kill her without a second thought.

Then it spoke.

 ** _"_** ** _If ya wanna live, I recommend doin' what he says. If ya don't…"_** His grip tightened on his blade, his threat remaining silent.

Ichigo glared and if looks could kill, his hollow would be a puddle of mush on the floor right now. Behind him Nudge clutched his shirt while Total growled by his feet. Ari took a defensive stance in front of Angel, who oddly enough remained where she was, only looking mildly scared much to his surprise. Both Max and her clone remained frozen where they stood with identical looks of fear.

"Max," Ichigo called out. She flinched at his voice but never turned around. "Max," he tried again, this time she turns to him slowly showing him wide scared eyes. He sighed. "He won't hurt you, but we need to leave or he really might. We can come back later and get that information. Right now we need to leave and get our strength up or else they'll capture us and really kill us." He couldn't tell her that his hollow really wouldn't hurt her unless she posed a threat to his life, but as much as he hated doing it, he needed to work with that fear.

 ** _"_** ** _Chih."_** Was the last thing his hollow spoke before disappearing in a thumping buzz.

As soon as he disappeared Max fell to her knees shaking. Ichigo stepped up to her side and knelt, having known what it was like to see his hollow for the first time as well, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Think you can stand?" He asks quietly. It was a few seconds before she nods and slowly stood up with his help. When she was standing he held her upper arm for a few more seconds to make sure she was fine and wouldn't fall back down before he was forced to block a punch aimed at his face.

"What the hell was that?!" His friend shouted, bringing her other fist back and made to punch him in the stomach. "What was that thing?!" He didn't stop it and let the punch connect. He grunted and bent over slightly from the impact. Ichigo stayed like that for a few seconds with his hair covering his face before straightening to look the only friend he made in this hell hole straight in the eyes. "Wait, don't tell me, 'You'll explain later'."

"I'm sorry, but it will take up too much time we don't have." With that said he moved passed the group. "We need to get moving. He broke out into a run again.

Even though the older ones were hesitant to follow him, the younger wasted no time in chasing after the orange head. With having no other choice, they too followed.

It wasn't long till they reached the front doors and what they saw made them stop dean in their tracks.

Where the wall lay surrounding the castle lay, a good portion of it was destroyed and bricks scattered the pockmarked ground where large gashes and craters could be seen in the ground. Destroyed Flyboys lay in heaps. Those that still moved had parts of them ripped off.

"What happened here?" Ari asks, stunned

His question was answered a second later when a massive explosion of dirt and debris rained down on them. Out of the dirt cloud Ichigo's hollow jumped out, twisting in air to release a white and red Getsuga at Flyboys chasing him.

Just how many of these things were there? Ichigo wondered. It seemed like they never ran out.

Each of the Flyboys following him were reduced to smoldering scraps. The hollow landed not far from them.

 ** _"_** ** _Well? You gonna stand around lookin' like idiots or are ya gonna get out of here?"_** He calls, snapping them all back to reality.

Releasing his hold on Zangetsu, Ichigo allowed the blade to disappear pack into spirit particles.

"Let's go," he told the others, snapping his twenty-three-foot wingspan out he jumped into the air and beat his wings, rising higher and higher with each beat.

With those words and movement, they each followed behind, finally free from their prison.

Down below a certain hollow grinned behind his mask as he watched his King fly free for the first time since getting his wings. He could feel through their connection his elation at finally flying with no walls to hamper his flight. He could finally spread his wings and feel that freedom that was taken away from him after his fight with Aizen and his capture.

He let himself disperse back into his wielder's inner world.

Now to just get that dense idiot to realize who he really was…

 ** _BW-B/MR_**

 ** _Explanations:_**

 ** _Ichigo fighting and how easy he was to be taken down:_** **Guys. Ichigo is still human and even the strongest of humans can't handle a blow to the head if not prepared. Caught unprepared? Good luck with that. I'm being realistic here when he passes out both times. He's only human with no powers.**

 ** _Ichigo swearing to kill:_** **He was experimented on, seen children become disfigured only to watch the die in front of him and seen them torn apart by Erasers, again right in front of him. If that doesn't make a protector furious and demand vengeance, then I don't what will.**

 ** _Type of bird used on Ichigo:_** **Like I said in the first author's note, I used a Swallow Tailed Kite. Again, go look them up.**

 ** _Introducing Max and the partial flock:_** **Yes, I did copy from the book. No, I will take no credit in owning it.**

 ** _Summoning Zangetsu:_** **The whitecoats basically experimented on Ichigo's soul. *SPOILER* Because the Zangetsu Ichigo used was his quincy manifestation, I figured it would be the Old Man weekend instead of the real Zangetsu, his hollow, Ichigo's real zanpakutō. *SPOILER OVER* With this in mind I figured that if his soul was experimented on then he would be able to survive thanks to his zanpakutō's power. They awakened his zanpakutō which saved his soul from being torn apart. All others died because they didn't have the power.**

 **Also I'm certain this will come up eventually... I left things unanswered for a reason! If I really am going to continue writing this then why give away all the answers right now? If I did that then there would be no use to even thinking of more to write.**

 **On that note let me make this clear. IF I do keep writing this then know that it WILL NOT GO COMPLETELY ALONG WITH THE BOOK SERIOUS! Nor am I touching the Thousand Year Blood War with a twenty foot pole until it's complete.**

 **If I do decide to write more then understand it will be a while until the next chapter. I would write several chapters ahead and that will take me a while since I'm focusing a lot of my time looking for a new job and completing my GED (HiSET is what it's being changed to).**

 **Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review with your thoughts. If something doesn't make sense then I will try and clarify it. Flames will be fed to Natsu. Also if anyone wants, feel free to draw my version of Ichigo (his hair will stay long).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. This got more attention than I thought it would. In response to that I have decided on continuing this. I haven't figured out a set day of when I'll be updating, but I'll try and get one out every week or two, that way I can have time on writing more chapters while also dealing with life.**

 **It's rather ironic though. For those of you who are familiar with my works, usually the first chapter is shorter than the rest, however this time around the first is longer then the second.**

 **I should go back and review this chapter and make sure things are right, but I'm too lazy at the moment. It's almost 3am here, I'm tired, and I just want to get this up. I've had a horrible week and figured reading all of your reviews would help me to feel better. It usually does. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pass out.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 ** _Bleaches Wings chapter 2_**

Life couldn't be better. He was finally free of his prison and his tormentors. He looked over his shoulder to see his friend. Not far to his right flew Max and her flock. Not only had he escaped but he managed to help break out his friend and Max's flock with minimal issues. Now the only problem lay in trying to find a place to land where they won't be found that was far enough away while still being close.

His mind went back to what happened no more than a half hour ago.

Not only had they escaped, but he successfully manifested his thought to be lost zanpakutō with no issues as well as used flash step with no side effects. Many of the children managed to escape much to his relief.

However, they saw his hollow in all of his not so wonderful bankai, mask and all.

He ignored the protest from his inner world.

Now they were weary of him which he didn't need right now.

Max suddenly went into a dive. Not knowing anything else to do he followed. After a short dove they all pulled up to land in a grassy field. Those that have had wings longer landed smoothly. Unfortunately for Ichigo, because this is both the furthest and longest he had ever flown until now, he stumbled when he landed in a run ending up nearly face planting it weren't for him flaring his wings. Standing on legs shaking slightly he pulls in his heavy wings close to his body, not bothering to cross them to keep them from dragging along the ground.

Max turns to him and crosses her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Alright, we've waited long enough, now start talking," she demanded.

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Where to start…

"What was that sword you were using?" Ari asks curiously. Looks like his mind was made up.

"That was Zangetsu, my zanpakutō."

Max frowns. "A what?"

"A zanpakutō. It translates into soul cutter in English." Ichigo explains.

"Soul cutter? You mean that thing cuts through souls?!" Nudge squeaks.

"No," Ichigo immediately said. "Only the evil ones and they're called hollows."

"A hollow?" Nudge shivers. "Sounds scary."

"Yeah, they're spirits that shinigami, soul reapers, weren't able to get to in time to send on to Soul Society, the afterlife. Hollows have a hole where their heart is supposed to be. They eat souls to try and fill that void, however they're not able to."

"Why not?" his friend asks.

"Because once a soul becomes a Hollow, it is driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls, living or dead, to fill the void caused by its descent." Their eyes widen. "That's where soul reapers come in. With their zanpakutō they're able to purify hollows and send them onto the cycle of rebirth where they will be reborn.

"So soul reapers don't take souls out of people?" Ari asks. Once Ichigo shakes his head no, Ari releases a sigh of relief.

"How do they purify a hollow?" Max asks.

"By cutting through their mask."

"Mask?"

He nods. "A hollow's heart becomes their mask."

"What about Soul Society?" Angel speaks up.

"Like I said it's the afterlife. Once a plus passes on, either on their own or with the help of a soul reaper they will go to a place called Rukongai. I can't tell you exactly that goes on there since I'm not entirely sure."

"Alright…" Max drawls. "What about soul reapers?

"What about them?"

Max sat down on the grass, the others following suit except Ichigo, who remained standing. "How do they help souls who haven't become a hollow?"

"They perform a konso, a soul burial." He explained as he held his fist up as if he were holding Zangetsu and pointed to where the bottom of the grip would be. "Once that happens they're sent to the Rukongai.

"Can we see it?" Nudge asks suddenly, interrupting any further questions making him chuckle.

Without a word he reached a hand out to his side and willed his spirit particles into forming his blade. First the grip was brought into existence and as soon as he was able he gripped it as the chain and blade were formed until he was holding the familiar wait of Zangetsu's cleaver form. He couldn't help the smile that came. It felt great to hold a part of his soul he thought he had lost forever.

Angel, Nudge, and Ari oohed and awed at his blade while Max and her clone looked on with wide eyes.

"Compensating for much?" Total remarks.

"The hell is that supposed to mean, mutt?" Ichigo shouted in irritation.

"Mutt?" Total shouted, obviously insulted. "I'll have you know I'm a purebred."

"Yeah, because other dogs can talk, that's perfectly normal."

"As far as you know," Total snapped. "There could be other talking dogs out there thanks to the School."

Ichigo snorted as he let Zangetsu disappear into blue spirit particles for a second time that night. "Doubtful. Last time I checked, talking dogs don't contribute to society."

"That's because I'm the only one!"

"But you just said there might be more. Now you're saying there aren't, make up your mind, mutt."

Nudge and Angel giggle earning a glare from the dog. Even Max and his friend were smirking. The only one not paying attention was Ari, and if her glances were anything to go by, Max also knew something was up with the Eraser. He suddenly looks up from his hands where they were in his lap, fear crossing his features.

"What about…" he paused, hesitant to continue. "What about that _thing_?"

Ichigo frowned in confusion. "Thing?"

Ari paused before nodding. "That thing in the mask?"

Ichigo stiffened including the others, though for different reasons. They all turned to him, expecting an answer. He ran a hand through his hair, hoping not to have to explain this, but who was he kidding? Of course his hollow would come up in conversation.

Suddenly his hollow let out a vicious growl from the confines of Ichigo's inner world, startling him. Across from him Angel flinched slightly. Ichigo frowned and sent his hollow a silent question.

 ** _"_** ** _Little Blonde over there tried ta read yer mind,"_** came a growled response causing Ichigo to freeze.

 _She what?_

There came a grunt. **_"Exactly as I said."_**

By now Max was also watching Angel who turned to look back at her flock leader with a frown.

 _Of course she can read minds. It wouldn't be me if things were ever easy._

By now Max was standing up and glaring daggers at him. "You better start explain _right now_ ," she hisses.

A heavy sigh escapes him. "Fine, but you're going to want to sit. It's a bit of a long story." She didn't move until he himself sat down. Only then did she return to her place between Ari and Nudge.

"What you saw was something called an inner hollow." At this everyone except for Ichigo stiffen. After all, they were just told that hollows eat both the living and dead. "Don't worry, so long as you don't pose a threat or invade his space, he won't hurt you.," He was quick to say, trying to ease the tension. Little good it did. Both Max's were glaring at him while Ari, Angel, Nudge, and Total were staring at him with wide, fear filled eyes.

How he hated that look. The same look he got from the soul reapers when they first learned of his hollow, only their eyes were quick to fill with hate and mistrust, the latter or which were in both the original and clone's eyes. If he hadn't known any better, he would have mistaken them for twins with how similar their looks were.

"And that's supposed to make us feel better?" Max demanded.

"No, but it's supposed to calm you down so I can explain." He said with his ever present scowl.

"Oh I'm calm. As calm as a hurricane," Max retorted.

"Just let me explain and try not to hold anything against me. I wasn't exactly willing when he was more or less forced into my soul.

Max crosses her arms over her chest while still glaring at him. "Fine, you have five minutes."

He mentally sighed. It was better than nothing he supposed. He would have to give the really condensed version of the Winter War then.

"Alright, when I was fifteen I was given my soul reaper powers by a soul reaper who went by the name of Rukia Kuchiki. Not long after she was taken back to the Soul Society because giving one's powers to a living soul was one of the worst crimes a soul reaper could commit. However, she did it so I could save my family so I owed it to her and couldn't let her die. Unfortunately, her older brother, Byakuya Kuchiki, forcibly took my powers so I was forced to go through some… tests in order to get them back."

"What'd you have to do?" Nudge asks.

Ichigo scratched his cheek, shifting so he wasn't sitting so much on a tail feather. "Well, my soul got ejected out of my body and then I was chased by a little girl who was trying to kill me. After that my Chain of Fate was cut, technically killing me I guess, then dropped into a huge hole called the Shattered Shaft. Then I had to climb out while my arms were restrained behind my back, all at the same time while my chains were eating each other. It took three days for me to lose my chains and then I started turning into a hollow. Luckily I managed to become a soul reaper before I could actually become said hollow." He rubbed the back of his head. "After that I've always had my inner hollow."

Nudge gasps. "That's horrible! How could someone do that?"

Ichigo's scowl returns full force. "Because I needed the power to save Rukia from being executed for a crime she didn't commit."

"Wait," his still unnamed friend spoke up. "But you said transferring powers was illegal in Soul Society. Isn't that what she did?"

He shook his head. "No, she awakened my own soul reaper powers that had been dormant up until then."

"I'm confused…" Ari said.

"My dad was actually a soul reaper, that's where I got my powers from. I just needed something that would wake them up and that's what Rukia did. Anyways, after I got my powers back and learned Zangetsu's name I left with some friends for Soul Society where we uncovered a traitor who had been planning his treason for centuries I think it was. He disappeared into the Hueco Mundo, a place where hollows live. Before that though I had a fight with Byakuya and that's when I first learned of my inner hollow. After the traitor disappeared me and my friends returned back to the World of the Living." His scowl deepened. "Not long after that my hollow tried to take over my body and sabotaged me in fights so I would lose. I was forced to get help from a group of people who had a similar issue as me, only they had it far longer and had their hollows under control."

"There's more people who have inner hollows?" Max asks.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, but according to them, their hollows are mindless while mine can think for himself. I had to fight him in my inner world, a place everyone has, it's just a matter if you're powerful enough to access it. I managed to win and from then on I could use his power, however I had to learn to control it. While I was training, my friend was kidnapped by the traitor so I went after her. There I fought his top fighters and came out on top while saving my friend."

There was no way he was going to tell them he died and his hollow controlled his body while he recovered. There was already trust issues, and if they realized his hollow could still take control of him now, even if he knew his hollow would never unless his life was in danger, then it would take forever to earn their trust, something he didn't want to do. Mostly because they went through something similar to him and a part of him didn't want to give up someone who knew what he went through.

"After that I went back to the living world where I fought one of the traitors -there were three total-, but I was too weak. The traitors then went to Soul Society where they would complete their plan of destroying my hometown and all its residents. However, in order to get there, they had to go through something called a Dangai, a place where time flows differently. In there I spent three months training to learn a final move of Zangetsu that would kill the traitor.

"Three months? Wouldn't that be plenty time for these traitors to proceed with their plan?" his friend asked with a frown.

"Normally yeah, but like I said, time flows different. Outside of the Dangai only three hours passed. At this point no one was strong enough to beat the traitor so he took his time. By the end of the three months I had learned what I needed to defeat him. I confronted him and was able to defeat him."

Nudge raised her hand. "What did you learn?"

Ichigo was silent for a moment before speaking. "The move is called Final Getsuga Tensho, it puts all my power into one single attack. Not only is it the attack that ended the Winter War, but it was also the last time I would get to wield Zangetsu. After that my powers disappeared as well as my spiritual pressure leaving me just a plain human. A year later I was kidnapped by the school. A few months after the first experiments started I heard my hollow, but not my zanpakto. Why, I still haven't figured out yet." He took a breath and let it out slowly through his nose. Hopefully he wouldn't have to explain all that again.

There was a scoff from his hollow but nothing else.

Maya frowns. "They way you talk about it, you sound like your sword is alive."

"Zanpakutō," he corrected. "And Zangetsu is. He's a part of my soul."

The area grew quite except some chirping of crickets and night animals scurrying in the underbrush. Then finally Max spoke up, breaking the silence.

"That was more than five minutes, but I'll accept it."

Ichigo blinked, surprised. Just like that she was accepting his story?

"However, don't think this makes us friends. We'll continue this in the morning. Right now we need to sleep and then come up with a plan on getting back inside Itex." With that said she stood up and herded her flock towards the trees.

He could only stare after them in silence. Now that he told a part of his story, what would happen now?

He was about to get up when his friend moved and sat next to him. "Maya," she says after a moment of silence. "My name is Maya. Originally Max was, but I don't like having so much in common with her that I decided to change it."

Ichigo smiled and held a hand out to her. "It's nice to meet you, Maya. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

 ** _BW - B/MR_**

Ichigo awoke with a crick in his neck, a sore back, and in a bad mood. Let it be known that he hates sleeping in trees. They are worse than the ground, but he could see why it was necessary. If someone were to come along in the middle of the night and stumble upon them then he could see a problem arising. Of course being used to sleeping in a bed and cage, he was used to being able to roll over. In a tree? You can't do that unless you plan on falling out of said tree and hitting the ground thirty feet below.

Which he did at some point much to the amusement of everyone present, hollow included. Of course not before slamming into a branch or two on his way down.

Oh yes, Ichigo's night had been a great night.

Climbing down from his bed, Ichigo stretched, working out the pain in the light of the rising sun.

Much to the displeasure of Max, Angel moved closer to the orange head as he finishes his stretches. She smiled at him and took his hand when he dropped them at his side when he was done.

"You're not so different then us you know." She says. He blinked down at her, not sure what she meant. "Max hears a voice, Nudge can hack, Ari is an Eraser and Max's little brother, and I can read minds."

He deadpans. "Yeah, I got that much last night. The mind reading part." Ichigo clarifies on a second thought. "Also the Eraser part too."

She grins. "My brother, Gasman, can mimic voices, Iggy is blind, and Fang can hide in the shadows and practically become invisible."

"There's more of you?"

Angle nods excitedly but then frowns. "Yeah. We had to split up though and go different ways since they don't like Ari…"

"Can't say as I blame them…"

Angel got a saddened look as she looks down at her feet. "Ari is gonna expire soon. He and Max say that he was just a little boy when he was turned into an Eraser."

Ichigo grunted in surprise. He might not be around the School for as long as the others but he still knew that all Erasers get an expiration date of sorts and die. He looked to where he was grinning at Max, who was smiling. If he really did have an expiration, then how long until it takes effect? Maybe… Just maybe he could get him to Orihime where she could reverse the damage… If he really was Max's brother then as a sibling himself, he knew she would probably do anything to keep him alive.

"I'm going to go talk to Max real quick," he told Angel. Angel let go of his hand and ran to Ari where she tugged on his hand and led him away.

"Max," Ichigo called as he approached her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked once he got her attention. She frowns but follows him off to the side. "Angel told me, about Ari," he said once they were away from the others.

Max scowled. Obviously she would need to have a talk with the flock's youngest…

"I know someone who can possibly reverse what the School did to him." At this he had Max's full attention.

"How?"

"Remember my friend that was kidnapped by the traitor?" When she nodded he continued. "She was taken because of the power she possessed. She can repel events from happening which means she can turn Ari back into a kid before he was made an Eraser."

"That's impossible," Max snaps. "There's no way someone could reverse what happened to Ari."

"She can. I've seen her heal a sound that was supposed to kill Rukia within minutes. I would have died many times over during the invasion if it weren't for her. He's your brother, right?"

Max crosses her arms over her chest and leans her weight on one leg. "Yeah, so what of it?"

"Would you do anything you possibly can, even if it seems impossible, to keep him safe or to save him?"

Her scowl disappeared, replaced by just a frown. "Yeah, but I would do the same for my entire flock."

"Then come with me to Japan. We can find Orihime and she can turn him back."

"What's to say she will? What if she sees him and decides not to? Hm?"

"She won't," he promised with a stern look. "Orihime will help anyone in need, it doesn't matter if they're an enemy. She's a pacifist and only thinks about the wellbeing of others before herself. I _know_ she'll help."

Max looked away, her from deepening. "Say we do go with you, what will happen? You stick out like a traffic cone with that hair of yours."

Ichigo deadpans. "Oh haha, haven't heard that one before."

She looks back at him with a smirk. "What about your wings and tail? Those will stick out even more than your hair."

He scratched the back of his head while thinking. "I figured we hide during the day and find her at night."

Max put a hand on her chin and hummed. "They are black so they would blend… The only problem would be the distance and the fact that half my flock is in the US. After we get more information about Itex I planned on heading straight back."

"I could take Ari with me while you go back," he suggested.

"No," was her immediate response. "I want to be there if anything happens to him."

Ichigo nodded, understanding. "Then we better get moving. It would probably be best if we leave for Japan now and come back at a later time to gather more information."

Her frown was back. Max desperately wanted to get more information on Itex now so she could bring it down that much sooner, however, she also wanted Ari to be safe and if she could turn him back into a little boy then she will definitely do that. Ari at least deserves to finish his childhood while he still can.

"Fine, but it better not take long. Also I need get a hold of the rest of my flock."

Ichigo again nodded, this time in consent. She was technically in charge since, even though she was younger, she has been a bird for far longer which meant she had more experience than him.

After catching some small animals for breakfast that barely filled them up they left for France. There had been a vote on where to go and everyone except Max and Ichigo chose Paris. Max wanting to go somewhere nearby, while Ichigo not really having much choice in the matter. He figured he was basically along for the ride until they reached Japan.

Ichigo marveled at how smooth everyone took off. It was like they were born to fly, and from the stories Maya told him, they really were born to fly. Except for Ari who had wings grafted into him so he was a bit less graceful with his huge wings. Also there was total who couldn't fly at all so he flew with Angel. But compared to him, who only got to fly in an enclosed space for a short amount of time, even Ari was graceful.

After a half hour Ichigo began to grow tired and they were forced to rest or else risk him falling out of the sky. Since none of them wanted that to happen, they landed in a forested area still in Germany. As soon as he landed, Ichigo sat down with a grunt and kept his wings spread to cool them down and to rest them.

All the while Nudge was gushing about how cute his wings were and wanting to pet them much to his amusement, Angel soon joining in and the both of them were now giggling up a storm. In a way they both reminded him of his sisters, Though more Yuzu than Karin. A pang of sadness hit him.

 ** _"_** ** _We'll see 'em again, King. We just gotta wait a bit longer."_** His hollow comforted him. It was still odd to Ichigo that his hollow would do that, but maybe that's because Zangetsu was still sleeping and didn't look to be waking up anytime soon so his hollow took up the job of comforting his king? It all confused him. It confused him even more when he found his hollow was also amused by Nudge's and Angle's antics.

Since they were each resting, Max decided to tell everyone the new plan. Upon finding out that Ichigo's friend could heal him, Ari couldn't stop smiling. He would get to keep living with his big sister and her flock now. Gone was his depressed mood and in came with overjoyed happiness that nothing could get rid of.

Ichigo kept a small smile on. If for some reason he had to leave his home or couldn't stay, Max had promised him a place in her flock, something that saddened, but at least he knew with them he would be accepted and would be with those similar to him. Who knows, if he wasn't able to stay in Karakura then he would become the flock's protector.

That thought made his smile grow a little more. They were nothing but children who were trying to stop an evil in the world. Of course with it being him, he won't be able to sit by idly while they were off potentially getting hurt. The thought made his stomach turn. No, there was no way he could do that. Even if he was accepted back home, which he was certain he would be, he would probably still end up joining the flock in helping them.

Once rested enough Ichigo was no longer shaking when trying to stand, they once again resumed their flight, this time Ichigo managing to make the last forty-five minutes of the flight, but just barely. Luckily for him there was an air current he was able to ride that helped him make it.

On the air current, Ichigo absentmindedly flicked his tail feathers. Of course he was used to going at slower speeds where that little flick would help turn him slightly, however he failed to realize that at higher speeds that flick would send him completely off course with a dignified squawk of surprise and amusing look of surprise on his face.

The others slowed down, grinning in amusement while Maya giggled and flew off to help him get back on course which took him a bit of work because of having to fly into a crosswind.

Ichigo and his hollow quickly agreed that for now it would be best to focus on stamina before any fancy moves. Once he got his stamina up he would practice flying while wielding Zangetsu so he doesn't accidentally take off a wing in the process.

After that small incident, Ichigo kept his tail still other than to keep him stable.

Upon reaching Paris, they once again touched down in a forest not far away where Ichigo, Maya, and Ari stayed behind while the others went into town to facetime the other flock members. For a good hour no one spoke as they all hid in the highest branches of a tree. Ichigo and Maya sat next to each other on different branches with Ari on the other side of the trunk. They were in a comfortable silence when Ari spoke up.

"Thank you," he says quietly.

"Hmm?" Ichigo asks, only catching the last word.

"Thank you," Ari says a bit louder so the orange head could hear.

This confused Ichigo. What had he done to deserve thanks? "For what?"

"For letting me live."

Ah, now it made sense. "It's no problem."

They lapsed back into silence with Maya smiling. It took a while to understand the relationship she had with Ichigo, but she was happy when she did because he was the first one she ever had.

A friend. She was certain of it with how he explained how he and his friends interacted. And if she were to ask him then she was certain he viewed her as a friend as well. Why else would he help her escape? She figured the only reason why he helped her copy and her miniflock was because of Angel and Nudge. At least that's her guess.

She couldn't help but feel like she made a good choice in a first friend.

The sun was starting to go down by the time the others returned, each carrying a backpack, or in Max's case three, one on her chest with one in each hand. Nudge also carried one extra. The three landed, four if you include Total, as the other three in the tree climb down.

The three who stayed behind were each given one. Upon opening they found cans of food and boxes of snacks. Ichigo was tempted to have something right now if Nudge hadn't handed out some pastries between the three who gladly ate after a day of having nothing.

After putting down Total and her backpack, Angel walked up to Ichigo and handed him a piece of clothing of some kind. Taking it he saw it was a black trench coat that nearly reached his feet. His mouth fell. How had they afforded this? He voiced his question.

"Dr. Martinez gave me a bank account last time I saw her and we stashed some of our things not too far from here last time we were here. Just a hunch I had."

"Thanks."

"We didn't know what size to do so we had to guess." Nudge says as he puts the coat on.

Having a little trouble getting it over his wings. Maya walks up to help him. Once it's on he immediately notices the extra space. A little too big, but that was fine he supposed. It helped to hide his wings better.

Much to Ichigo's displeasure they spent the night in trees again and in the mornings they were off to Japan.

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

Surprisingly enough, nothing happened on their way to Japan. Ichigo's stamina increased, surprising everyone when a few days into the trip he could already fly for several hours without getting tired. Ichigo assumed it was because of his powers, but the others thought it was something else. By the end of the first week he was able to keep up just fine, if not better.

Before he went to sleep each night he would fight his hollow, who also acquired a set of wings and a tail, except as per usual the colors were reversed making them mostly white with a black strip. Apparently even the hollow needed to practice not cutting off his wings. There had been times when one of them lost a wing, but thankfully his hollow was quick enough to get to healing it before the injury became real on his physical body.

The first time he trained with is hollow he forgot to tell the others that his injuries he received in his inner world would become real on his physical body. That was a fun talk…

At least he got to know everyone better.

A week and a half after leaving France they arrived in Japan where Ichigo took the lead. From there it only took a few hours to get to Karakura Town. It was still the middle of the day when they arrived so they were forced to land on the hill outside of town where they were able to sit and relax.

"So when are we meeting with the others again?" Nudge asks from where she lay on her front in a patch of grass.

"Not for another few days. They chose to go up through Alaska, remember?" Max tell her.

"Oh yeah."

"How would they know where to look?" asks Ari.

Making sure he wasn't on any feathers, Ichigo leaned back on his hands. "We'll be able to use the Wi-Fi at my house and let them know assuming they're on. It shouldn't take long for Orihime to help Ari so we might be able to meet them tonight."

 _Tonight._

He was _so close_ now, he could almost hear his sisters and dad.

Worries surfaced. What would happen? Did they really think he was dead? How would they respond to seeing him after a year and a half? More importantly, would they accept him?

 ** _"'_** ** _Course they will, King. They're yer family."_**

 _You've been more comforting than usual. What'd you do?_

 ** _"_** ** _What? I can't cheer my king up?"_**

 _No._

 ** _"_** ** _I'm hurt."_**

 _Good._

Soon enough the sun was below the horizon causing his heart to skip. This would be the first time since everything happened that he would get to see Orihime. Ichigo likes to think of himself as patient, however right now he could throw patience out the window. He just wanted to take flight and find his family and never leave their side again. Finally when his home began to show signs of slowing down they took flight, Ichigo taking the lead.

It took him longer then he wanted to find Orihime's new apartment but when he did he froze just as his hand was raised to knock. Why couldn't he move? All he had to de was reach forward to knock. It wasn't that hard. He took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm his racing heart. Finally he reached forward and knocked lightly. He was afraid he knocked too lightly when there was no response until,

"Coming!" came a sing-song voice that had his heart skipping a beat and breath catching in his throat. The door opened to reveal another orange head except slightly darker girl with grey eyes and a rather ample bosom. She froze upon seeing who it was. They both stared at each other for what felt like minutes but was really only a few seconds.

"Hey," Ichigo finally said with a small smile.

"K-Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime squeaked before tears formed in her eyes. She reached a hand out to him but froze. "Is it- Is it really you?"

"Yeah… it's me," he says gently.

Tears spilled as Orihime lurched forward to hug Ichigo with all she could, fists clenching the back of his coat. Ichigo brought his own arms around the crying girl to comfort her and reassure her it was really him. He sent a silent thanks to whoever was listening -besides his hollow- that the flock stayed quite through this.

They stayed like that until Orihime finally pulled away, but not letting go of him. "I'm so happy you're okay. I- Everyone thought that-" she stopped herself, bottom lip quivering for a moment before she perked up, a huge grin plastered on her face. "Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan will be so happy Kurosaki-kun is okay. Oh," she now looks at him with a curious look, "Why is Kurosaki-kun here instead if at home with his sisters?"

He let out a silent sigh. "That's actually why I'm here. Can you help me with something?"

"Of course!" she says with a smile.

Ichigo lets go of her and turns to the flock where they stood awkwardly.

"Oh! Come in!" She motions for all seven of them, including Total, to enter. Once everyone is in and the door clicks shut Orihime begins to speak rapid Japanese, confusing all but one of her guests. "I'm sorry for not having anything made, I wasn't expecting to have any guests. I can make something real quick if you want. How does wasabi and bean paste sound? Oh! I can even add some chocolate if you want!"

Ichigo went pale at her suggestions, glad none of the others could understand her. He suppressed a shiver.

"Ah, Orihime?" She looks at him with a wide smile. "We're not that hungry and they only understand English."

Orihime blushes at this before switching to English, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry about that."

Ichigo chuckles. "Guys, this is Orihime Inoue. Orihime, this is Max, Maya, Nudge, Angel, Ari, and Total." Each gave a wave when introduced. Well in Total's case he bound forward and began demanding attention making Ichigo scowl and kick the dog. Which in turn made Angel start shouting at him about hurting him when Total yelped. After rolling his eyes, Ichigo turns back to the other orange head. "Anyways, can you use your powers to reverse what happened to Ari?"

With a confused look, Orihime looks at Ari, who was fidgeting by now. Her eyes widen as she fully takes in his looks, clearly seeing what was wrong. She motioned for him to sit and the others to move back.

"Sōten Kisshun." Almost immediately an orange dome appeared over Ari, Orihime holding her hands up to maintain the shield.

Max stiffened and made to move closer but was stopped when Ichigo held up an arm in front of her. Everyone but Ichigo and Orihime gasped when Ari's grafted on wings began to disappear right before their very eyes. Ari could only look on in amazement as his wings disappeared and his pain vanished.

"Kurosaki-kun! Your hair grew!" Orihime cries out when she was finally able to place what was so different about him.

Said orange head takes a chair and sits on it backwards. "Yeah, that's not the only thing. I got my powers back."

Her eyes widen as she indeed can sense his powers and it wasn't raging like before. It was calmer now than ever before. "But… How? Kisuke-san said your powers wouldn't ever comeback."

"About that…" He glanced to the flock where they all had decided to sit on the floor. Max's eyes were starting to narrow at him, as if to tell him to say nothing. He of course ignored her.

Over the next few hours, with the help of Ichigo who loaned some of his powers to her when hers were starting to get low, he was filling in his friend on what had happened. At the end of the few hours, Orihime was crying slightly for the pain her friend went through that no one knew about.

If only she knew then she would have been there to help him escape instead of force him to go through all that and escape all on his own. She was a horrible friend for not doing anything.

She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder to see a slightly smiling Ichigo looking down at her.

"I don't blame you, Orihime. What happened, happened and I wouldn't change it if I could," he tells her.

Orihime looks back to the dome under her hand. Inside the dome lay a sleeping Ari, who looked like a normal seven-year-old with blond hair. All that was left for her to fix was under his skin that only she could see. What could she say to that? Nothing. She couldn't say anything without upsetting him and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

She turns back to him with closed eyes and a smile. "I'm just happy Kurosaki-kun is back and safe." She looks back to her task as she feels some of his power flow into her from his hand where it still lay on her shoulder, refilling her reserves. After a moment he pulled away. "Uryū missed you," she says quietly.

"Really?" Ichigo says in mild surprise. "Four-Eyes missed me? That's a surprise."

Orihime giggles and the room falls silent.

By now it was late into the night and only Ichigo, Orihime, and Max were still awake, the others having fallen asleep once Ichigo finished his tale. Max was only still awake because she wanted to keep any eye on Air in case anything happened to him under that mysterious dome. Also to glare daggers at Ichigo for inadvertently revealing their own wings as well.

By the time she was done with healing Ari, the sun was coming up to signal a new day. Almost as soon as she was done Orihime climbed into her bed and fell asleep, but not before telling everyone they were free to stay there as long as they needed. Ichigo decided it was best if he too got some sleep and promptly passed out on the floor, not bothering with a pillow or blanket, near where Nudge and Angel curled up together, Maya having had taken the couch.

As soon as his eyes closed, Ichigo fell asleep.

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

Ichigo awoke some time later to birds chirping outside the window. He lay there on his front with his eyes still closed and listened to the flock talk amongst themselves, sounding excited about something. That something being Ari if the sound of children laughing was anything to go by. Rolling onto his side he was able to see the three youngest and Total whispering about something in a corner.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Maya calls over to him from where she sat at the table.

"Shut up," he grunts as rubs sleep from his eyes and stands up. As he's about to move to the table he's suddenly hit from the side. He shifts his footing so he doesn't go sprawling on the floor and looks down to see Ari hugging him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he chanted, squeezing harder and harder for every thanks he said. Ichigo places a hand on Ari's head who in turn looks up with happy blue eyes and a huge grin.

Ichigo smiles a bit, happy that Ari would now get to continue living as a normal human. Well, as normal as you can get having spent who knows how long as an Eraser. Ari runs back to the other three where they start whispering and laughing again.

He heard pots clanking together in the kitchen earning his curiosity. Entering the kitchen space he paled at Orihime pulling food that should never be put together out of he fridge and cupboards.

"Ah, Orihime," he calls wearily in his native tongue.

Said girl looks up and grins. "Good morning, Kurosaki-kun."

"Why don't I make something while you go relax. You worked hard yesterday," he suggests as he steps into the kitchen.

"Oh, no, I'm fine! I got so much sleep last night I feel like I could run a marathon!" Ichifgo could see through her lie. He could see she was still exhausted after healing Ari for so long. He couldn't blame her. He was still tired of having to be careful with transferring his power to her and that was tiring enough.

He chose not to comment on her small lie instead grabbing what was in her hands and put it on the counter. Moving behind her he grabbed her shoulders and guided her out of the kitchen much to her surprise. "I'm going to cook so don't worry yourself." With that said Ichigo disappeared into the kitchen.

Max brought out the laptop at seeing what time it was. "What's the Wi-Fi password?"

From the kitchen Ichigo listened in as the others facetimed the other half of the flock. From the sound of it they were only another day out from Karakura Town. Ichigo had mixed feelings about meeting the rest of the flock. From what he was told about them, Fang had a tendency of holding grudges just as bad as him, Iggy like to make things explode even if he couldn't see it, and Gasman liked to mimic people and sounds as well as make explosives with Iggy. While he was happy to meet others sort of like him, he was also resigned on how they would react to his story.

Max had told him that if he wanted to be a part of her flock then that meant everyone would have to know about him. Of course he was going to keep some things to himself unless absolutely necessary. Nothing would change that.

As everyone was finishing with their meal -more like buffet- there came a knock on the front door. Already standing, Ichigo put on his coat and answered it.

On the other side of the door stood a black haired teenager the same age as Ichigo. The teen's blue eyes widened behind glasses at the sight of the one who answered the door.

"Oh hey, Ishida," Ichigo said as if he only saw the other just yesterday.

This snapped Uryū out of his shock who then promptly cocked back a fist and threw it into Ichigo's jaw. Ichigo saw it coming but did nothing to stop it and let the hit collide, sending him to the floor. He rolled slightly so he was no longer on his wings and tail while rubbing his jaw. That actually hurt more then he thought. His hair covered his face, hiding his features, as Uryū started shouting at him, everyone else in the room going ignored by the two.

"'Oh hey'? What the hell is wrong with you, Kurosaki? You've been missing for a year and a half and all you have to say is 'oh hey'? Everyone thought you were dead so show a little respect!" He shouts, grinding his teeth.

"Has it really been that long?" Ichigo retorts as he gets up, keeping both wings and feathers as close to his self as he can, not wanting his friend to see them just yet.

Uryū growls, lurching forward to punch Ichigo in the stomach. He was surprised that Ichigo took it with no fight, but was even more surprised when all he did was bend forward slightly from the force behind it. That didn't make any sense. Ichigo was just a human and he had put a little power into the punch without thinking and that should have sent him flying. So why...? Ah, now he saw it, but there was something off about it… Did it have something to do with what his father told him?

He pulled back. "Care explaining how did you get your soul reaper powers back?"

"Maybe later when everyone is together," he says as he turns around to clean up from dinner. "It's a long story that I'd rather not repeat again."

It was then that Uryū noticed the others in the room, a light blush of embarrassment covered his cheeks as he noticed unfamiliar faces staring at him, two of them, twins by the looks of it, were glaring at him. A small shiver passed down his spine. The two looked no older then fourteen, possibly fifteen, but he got the sense they could hold their own in a fight.

"Oh hi, Uryū," Orihime greets. "You should have said you were coming over so some more food could be made." - A bead of sweat ran down his cheek. Had they all really just eaten her food? - "We just had dinner and unfortunately there's no more. I can make you something though," she offers.

"I made the food," Ichigo calls from the kitchen where a little blonde girl and boy went to most likely help clean.

That explains it. "No thank you, Orihime. I actually just ate."

"Okay…" She looks downtrodden until she perks up. "Let me introduce you to Kurosaki-kun's flock!" One of the twins began glaring at Orihime now. She was about to say something when the boisterous woman hugged her. "This is Max, leader of the flock. I think." She points to the other twin. "They look a lot alike. Oh! But they're not twins, they're clones."

"Clones?" He asks, confused. Last time he checked, clones were only in science-fiction.

"I'll explain later," Ichigo interjects before anymore could be said on the matter

Uryū turns back to Orihime to see her looking between the two now identified clones with confusion.

"I'm Maya," one of them tell him, the one currently not being hugged by Orihime, looking slightly amused.

"I'm Nudge!" A dark haired girl says from the floor where they had been eating, raising her hand high above her head. Her arm fell back to her lap. "Angel and Ari are in the kitchen with Ichigo." Her brow scrunches. "How do you know Ichigo?"

"We're, uh, friends," was his response.

"Oh, is that what we are?" Ichigo questions coming out of the kitchen. Ichigo ignored the halfhearted glare. "This is Ari," he points at a blond little boy of about seven who was moving to sit with Nudge. "And this," he drops a hand on the blond girl's head and ruffles her hair a bit, "Is Angel." Angel swats his hand away with a pout. There was a cough near the floor. "Oh yeah, and that's Total." Ichigo adds as a second thought. "Guys, this is Uryū Ishida, the bane of my existence."

This time Uryū really did glare. He couldn't really blame him for saying that when their entire friendship was practically planned by their parents from the beginning.

Uryū pushed his glasses up. Ichigo would most likely find out soon enough.

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

 ** _Explanations:_**

 ** _Ichigo's powers:_** **Okay, I should say that no, Ichigo will not be gaining any new abilities like fish gills or mind reading or whatever James Patterson did to the flock. That's the flock. This is Ichigo. Two different series. The only thing I would do is change up Ichigo's powers, more specifically add a thing or two. I don't want to veer off from the Bleach canon too much, but it will be hard with the Thousand Year Blood War most likely not ending anytime soon and no one but Tite Kubo knowing what exactly Ichigo is capable of doing. So I won't mess with him and since I am planning on continuing this, you won't see them for quite some time. Just something to look forward to right now.**

 ** _Ari:_** **I love this kid too much to not keep him alive. Expect Ari to become OOC. I mean c'mon, Orihime turned him back into a kid and his DNA is back to that of a normal human.**

 ** _Orihime:_** **People call me ditzy sometimes, but for the life of me I can't write a ditzy character. I tried, I really did. When I actually start getting her character down I'll come back through and fix her.**

 ** _Ichigo and Uryū's relationship:_** **The way I'm going to have things is that Ichigo and Uryū were once friends as babies and into toddlers when they had to stop because of family issues. They of course forgot each other over time. For those of you who have read the Bleach manga and are caught up, hopefully you know what I'm talking about.**

 ** _Thousand Year Blood War:_** **Okay, so I'll have some things mentioning the War, but I won't actually go into it. Not until it's done.**

 **Terribly sorry if I messed any Japanese things up. I'm trying to learn the language and the culture, but it's a slow go when I can't afford any proper learning material and am stuck to Google.**

 **I just realized I forgot the disclaimer…**

 **I OWN NOTHING AND NEVER WILL! I only own the ideas I come up with and both series belong to their respective owners.**

 **Next chapter will be Ichigo meeting up with his family.**

 **Please review and tell me what you thought.** **If there is anything you would like cleared up, don't be afraid to ask. All flames will be fed to Natsu.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Bleached Wings Chapter 3_**

 **I OWN NOTHING AND NEVER WILL! I only own the ideas I come up with and both series belong to their respective owners.**

 **Spoilers for Bleach and Ichigo's history! You have been warned.**

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH WORD DELETED 5,000+ WORDS FROM THIS CHAPTER AND I AM SO GAAAAAAAH**

 **I CAN'T EVEN**

 **SOMEBODY HELP ME FROM GOING ON A MASS WORD MURDER SPREE**

 ***Breaths in* ... *Breathes out* ... Okay. Now to go and REWRITE all of that. It's cool Word. It's totally a favorite pastime of mine to rewrite over half of my chapter. We're cool. We. Are. Cool...**

 **NOT! *flips Word a thousand times over***

 _ **Sorry about the html thing. I have no idea how that happened.**_

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

Ichigo looked out the window to see the sun about to set, it's last sliver sending reds and pinks across the clouds. Max and her mini flock were off meeting up with her lost three and they should be back soon. He looks to the kitchen where the last of the food for tonight was cooking. Thankfully he had Maya and Ari, well as best as a seven-year-old can do, helping him or things would be going a lot slower. They had to make quite a lot, enough for Uryū to man up and go out and help buy some food. If Angel herself could put away three meals worth of food and still be hungry, Ichigo knew that they would need more food then what Orihime still had from last night.

At least when Ari wasn't in the kitchen, he was keeping Orihime occupied so she wouldn't try and help. A small shiver ran down his spine. That's exactly what they all needed. Orihime in the kitchen. As much as Ichigo liked Orihime, he could go without her cooking.

He looked out the window to see the sun vanishing.

Just as he returned to the kitchen to relieve Maya of her duties, the front door opened. Ichigo peeked out to see Max and her mini flock return with three new people. The first was a fourteen-year-old with black hair and near black eyes with a bored expression on his face. The second was another fourteen-year-old with light brown hair and unseeing pale blue eyes being led in by the third, an eight-year-old with blonde hair and blue eyes.

 _He must be Angel's older brother_ , Ichigo thought idly as he noted the similarities.

The black haired teen and the eight-year-old both froze and stiffened when they saw Maya, who was now standing next to the couch on the other side of the apartment. The room became tense.

"What? What is it?" The blind teen asked. No one spoke up.

"It's Max's clone," the one leading the blind teen whispered, as if the whole world would crumble if he spoke any louder. At this the blind teen tensed as well.

As the younger one spoke, the oldest of the three boys narrowed his eyes, broken out of his trance and moved toward her.

Before anyone could blink, Ichigo stood between Maya and the black haired teen. Ichigo was only a few inches taller than the teen, but he used that height to his advantage to glare down at the younger teen. The other narrowed his own eyes in a glare of his own. Ichigo's brown eyes lightened to a gold as an echoing growl escaped him.

Everyone else stopped what they were doing to stare wide eyed as it felt as if the room's temperature dropped a few degrees. The unspoken threat clear to all in the room.

 _Touch her and lose a limb._

Uryū and Orihime shivered as old memories resurfaced.

The teen's eyes widened slightly as he took a step back. Ichigo glanced at the other two new guests to see the little boy's other hand clutching Max's hand, shivering, and the blind teen staring unseeing at him, a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek. Seeming satisfied that no one else threatened Maya his eyes returned back to their original amber.

"Dinner is done," was the only thing he said before returning to the kitchen, Nudge, Ari, and Angle following to bring the food out.

The rest of the night was filled with tension. At dinner no one spoke and when they did it was in hushed whispers.

After dinner Ichigo set to work cleaning up from diner with the help of Maya. With both of them out of the room, he could feel the tension slowly melt away, but when one of them entered the room, Fang, the black haired teen, would tense and glare at them while the other two, Iggy, the blind one, and Gasman, the younger of the three, would tense up and watch Ichigo and Maya warily.

Around midnight, sleep claimed all but Ichigo, who stayed awake to keep watch over everyone. He may not be a huge fan of Fang, but that didn't mean he wouldn't keep an eye on him while he slept.

Outside he could feel hollows prowling around. Luckily Uryū understood his need for keeping low and took care of them with no argument. To say Ichigo was surprised there were so many hollows out right now would be a lie. He fully expected it with how much spiritual pressure everyone but him and Orihime were unconsciously releasing.

The only reason he wasn't releasing anymore then he already was, was thanks to his hollow -which still surprised him- into getting him to learn control.

It was around when the sun was rising on a new day when Ichigo drifted asleep and Max and Fang were stirring awake.

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

Night fell and the city slowed.

Steeling his nerves Ichigo walked toward his home. He could have easily flash stepped there, but he wanted to take his time.

He began created scenarios for what could happen and how he would react. As he did the worries of his imprisonment surfaced. Would they accept him? Or would they shun him? Would they love him? Or would they hate him?

His hollow was being oddly quite. Usually he would speak up by now or destroy enough buildings to make his vertigo act up to distract him. So why was he being so quite? Did it have something to do with what he had said about Yuzu and Karin being his sisters since they were Ichigo's? Unfortunately, Ichigo had no way of knowing without asking and he wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon.

The walk was neither short nor long. It was however long enough for the moon to shift overhead to a noticeable degree.

When he got to his home he stood on the sidewalk and stared. It still looked the same as it did the day he was kidnapped.

The small family owned clinic with small bushes in front of it stood in front of the actual house, three parking spaces in front of the actual home. A wall, with six tree shrubs behind a metal fence making up part of it, separated the house from the small parking lot serving as a privacy fence.

Finally gathering his courage, Ichigo walks to the front door next to the side of the house and knocks. Soon after footsteps could be heard. As soon as the door swung open his breath hitched at the sight of Yuzu, who's smile disappeared as soon as she saw who was at the door. All scenarios he came up with over the week of what he would do fled from his mind as he stared down at her.

"I-Ichi-nii?" She manages to squeak out after a second of staring wide eyed.

Ichigo smiles, eyes stinging. "Hey, Yuzu."

Just then Karin comes around the corner, "Hey, Yu, who is... it..." Her voice trails off as she too stares wide eyed at Ichigo.

"Hey, Karin," Ichigo greets her as well.

As one the twins jolt forward to wrap their brother in a crushing hug, tear streaming down both of their cheeks. Not being able to hold his own in at the sight of them, Ichigo began crying as well.

 ** _"We made it, King. We made it..."_** His hollow whispered, not wanting to break the mood.

Ichigo's legs gave out and the three fell to their knees. He buried his face in Karin's hair as she cried into his neck, Yuzu into his chest.

"What's going on out here..." Isshin asked, coming around the corner only to stop mid-step at seeing his three children. He had to do a double take at this. He stood there frozen, staring with wide eyes at the head of orange hair, unable to believe what he was seeing much less what he was _sensing_. It was only when the owner of the orange hair lifts his head to reveal all too familiar brown eyes. Isshin walked forward on unsteady legs and sank to the ground in disbelief. He slowly reached forward and hugged all three of his children close.

His son... His only son who he thought he had lost forever was back. He was home.

Ichigo put up no resistance and just fall into his father and let the older man hug him. They both needed this, even if neither wanted to admit it.

Eventually they stopped crying, something Isshin hadn't realized he was doing until the tears were already falling. They stayed there for a while, not paying attention to the time and not caring if anyone saw them.

It wasn't until Ichigo felt one of his primary flight feather twist into an uncomfortable position did he move. His dad and Karin let go of him while Yuzu kept hugging him, not wanting to let go of her big brother in case he might disappear on her again. He was fine with that.

"Why don't we take this inside." Issing says, standing up. Picking up Yuzu in his arms, Ichigo and Karin follow their dad inside.

Once inside Ichigo set Yuzu on the couch, much to her displeasure. However, a simple hand ruffling her hair silenced her as she sniffled, trying not to cry again. Isshin and Karin join Yuzu on the couch while Ichigo grabbed a chair from the dining table and sat in it reversed with his arms resting on the back of the chair. He pressed his mouth into his forearms and frowned, eyebrows scrunching together.

He knew his family wanted to know what happened to him, but he wasn't sure how to approach the subject.

"Ichi-nii?" Karin spoke up, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He hums.

"What's that?" She asks, pointing to something near his feet.

Looking down to see what she was pointing to he saw it was his wingtips. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to get it cut, he thought absently.

 ** _"Really? Yer focusin' on yer hair right now?"_** His hollow said exasperated. **_"Want me ta break the ice?"_**

 _No,_ Ichigo hissed.

"Dad, can you call Hat-and-Clogs and have him gather everyone in his basement? I'd rather not explain more than I have to. Also Orihime will be bring some friends of mine along."

Isshin nods and takes out his phone, moving into another room.

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asks this time.

He sighs and looks to where their dad walked off to. "Look, something happened to me. Something bad..." He looks back at them to see their worried faces. "I don't like leaving you in the dark, but can you wait until everyone is gathered?"

Yuzu was hesitant in nodding, Karin even longer.

"Can you at least tell up what that is?" Karin presses.

Ichigo rubbed his eyes, again thinking of how to approach this. "It's, uh... It's a part of my wing." Silence fills the room, only the muffled voice of their dad filled the air. He waited.

"Your what?" Karin finally speaks up.

"My wing." He moves the primary feathers as an emphasis. Both of their eyes widen at this and suddenly Yuzu is next to him, lifting the hem oh his trench coat to get a better view. Karin came over at a more sedate pace. Both of their eyes widen even more upon uncovering more feathers.

"What?" Karin whispers as Yuzu gasps when he shifts his entire wing.

He looks away, preparing for them to never want to see him again. It came as a surprise when he suddenly had a pair of arms wrapped around his neck.

"Wings or no wings, you'll always be my big brother," Yuzu says into his shoulder. "Right, Karin?"

Karin only nods while still looking on with wide eyes as she slowly reaches out to touch the feathers. He makes sure to hold still.

A heavy weight lighted off his chest at their words. Ichigo leans his head on Yuzu's. "Thanks you two."

His hollow chuckles. **_"Told you so."_**

 _Shut up._

Isshin came into the room, putting his phone in his pocket. "Alright, Kisuke is calling the others, they shou-" He stops and stares at the scene in front of him. "What? What did daddy miss?!"

Ichigo straightens with a sigh. "Shut up, Old Man. If there was one thing I didn't miss, it was your childish antics."

"Wha-what? How can you say that to your dear old dad?" Isshin cries in mock hurt.

"It's because you're my dad that I say that." Ichigo sighs. "Couldn't I have been stuck with a less childish parent?"

"Waaah!" Their father ran crying to the wall memorial of their mother. "Masaki, dear, our son finally came home, but he doesn't love me!"

Ichigo deadpans. "Nice to know some things haven't changed."

Yuzu pulls away with a pout, putting her hands on her hips. "Ichigo! Be nice to daddy! He missed you. We all did..." Her voice trails off, a sad look crossing her features.

Not liking that look, he smiles and ruffles her hair once more just to mess with her. "I know you did. I missed you both too." He looks to Karin to see her smiling softly.

"On a more serious not," Isshin spoke up, interrupting the moment. "I need to talk to you about something important. Karin, Yuzu, I want you both to listen as well." He sat down on the corner couch and leaning forward he rest arms on knees and his knitted fingers to his lips, looking at the floor. When his daughters sat down on the couch as well he looked up and looked Ichigo straight in the eyes. "Ichigo, do you remember when you said I could spill my guts when I felt the time was right?" At Ichigo's hesitant nod he continues. "Well... Get ready for some gut spilling. The thing is you're not really a soul reaper."

Ichigo's eyes widened at this. What the hell was he getting at? Not a soul reaper? Then what has he been this entire time?

Isshin continued. "But you aren't a mere human either," he looks to Yuzu and Karin to see their confused looks, "neither are you two. Your mother was a Quincy."

At this Ichigo tenses. His mom was a Quincy? Why was he never told this before?

The twins look at each other with confusion. What was a Quincy?

"As you may have already figured out, I was a captain. In fact, I was the captain of the tenth squad and my name was... My name was Isshin Shiba."

"Shiba? Like Kukaku and Ganju Shiba?" Ichigo's brows crease. His father nods. "If you were a soul reaper and mom a Quincy, then how did you meet her? I thought they were enemies."

"We are." His eyes became distant as he recalled his past. "It was about twenty, almost twenty-one years ago when there was a hollow attack. All soul reapers who were sent disappeared, however no plus souls had been eaten. Without telling anyone except my lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, and third seat, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, who stayed behind."

Hearing Tōshirō's name Karin perked up, recognizing someone in this story.

"Whatever the thing was, it was targeting soul reapers and only soul reapers. So I flared my energy only it wasn't going after power. Instead it went after one of the lower ranks and killed them. It was only then did I get a good look at it. It was a black hollow with a white face and forward facing horns." Ichigo's eyes widened. "It was about as tall as me with no hands, only swords. What the weird part was that the hole was filled in. I engaged it. Not long after Aizen appeared and cut me across the back, the damage was bad enough I couldn't use my bankai. The hollow soon began to overpower me thanks to the wound, then your mother came in. She shot arrows at it, drawing its attention to her." He fell silent, atmosphere tense. "It closed in and bit her shoulder where she shot it in the head. However, there was a failsafe in case it did die. I saved her from the blast and took the damage myself. After that I returned to the Soul Society for a few days.

"When I came back it was to find Ryūken Ishida carrying Masaki, who was in the middle of hollowfication. Kisuke found us and took us back to his shop where I entered a gigai that I wouldn't be able to leave as long as Masaki and the hollow were... Were still alive. As you can already guess, it was a success. Shortly after Masaki was allowed to leave to leave the Ishida household after graduating high school. Since her soul had been tainted with that of a hollow, it wasn't a hard decision for them to make. From what I was told, Ryūken had final say in the matter. Perhaps... I was the only way for him to make a clean and total break from his feelings towards Masaki.

"As for your old man, the only subject I paid attention to at the Academy was medicine which is why I thought it best to open a clinic. I was still wet behind the ears, but with some coaching from Kisuke I was able to manage. While Masaki attended the University, she would come by often to make fun of my new, white outfit. I told her I was stripped of my soul reaper powers and exiled from Soul Society for violating the rules. Between us though, even as I spoke those words, I think she knew it was all a lie. Apparently your old man is a horrible liar, and she could read me like an open book. But not once did she ever hold that lie against me. Truth be told, I don't think she ever cared whether that story was a lie or not. The thing is, when we were together, those types of things never matted. Maybe it was because she was always able to see right through me.

"One day we went to watch some random movie. The old man in it said this line about how his wife, even all these years later, reminded him of the sun. The movie itself was a total snooze fest. The only thing I remembered about that movie was how Masaki bawled her eyes out from start to finish. And that line from that old man because that was the moment I realized that she was my sun." By now silent tears ran down Yuzu's cheeks. "She drew me in, was merciful, guided me with her light. She did all of this without even trying. I was simply happy to be in her orbit. Before I knew it, Ichigo, you were born. And, well... You know the rest."

Ichigo stared at his dad then looked to his sisters. Yuzu was hugging and crying on Karin's shoulder, who didn't seem to care much at the moment as she stares at the floor blankly. He turns back to his dad to see him staring at him a little harder than he had been a moment ago. What was that look for? Was it because his dad needed to tell him more but couldn't with his sisters here? It was possible. He was rather surprised he even shared what he did with Karin and Yuzu here. He understood they had a right to know, but Ichigo figured his dad would wait a while longer.

He looked back towards the twins. Or was it because one of them started showing signs of either soul reaper or Quincy powers? If that was the case, then he had a guess as to it being Karin. Yuzu was always the weakest of the three of them when it came to being spiritually aware.

Isshin sat up straighter with a grin on his face. "What I'm trying to say is that daddy loves you no matter what happened to you."

Ichigo deadpanned. _Way to ruin the mood, Goat-Face._

Just then Isshin's phone vibrated twice, alerting him to a message. Reaching down and picking up his phone from off of the table, he flipped it open and read the message. He stood up. "The others are at Urahara's; they're just waiting on us."

Nodding Ichigo stood and moved to walk out when his dad laid a hand on his shoulder and let the twins move outside to the car first. Once they were alone, Isshin squeezed Ichigo's shoulder, but not letting go.

"I meant what I said. Your sister's are the same way." With that being said, Isshin left Ichigo alone.

Ichigo stood there silently for a moment before he reached up to grab a fistful of his hair and clenched his eyes shut. He grinned as once again tears threatened to spill. A stone he hadn't felt until just now being removed from his heart as relief once again flooded him. He didn't care if none of his friends accepted him, well he did, but his family's opinion just mattered more at the moment.

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

Ichigo touched down in a swish of feathers and a crunch of gravel underfoot. Folding his wings in he put his coat back on not a few seconds before his dad pulled into the gravel parking lot that made up Urahara Shop's front.

"Ichigo-kuuun~," a voice called to him as his family stepped out of their car.

If Ichigo was being honest, that was one voice he could go the rest of his life without hearing again.

He turned to see its owner as annoying as ever with his bucket hat over sandy blond hair and fan waving at him.

"Ah! Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan!" he called as soon as he saw them. "Would you like some candy?"

"No thanks, I don't take candy from creeps," Karin says with a bored look.

"Karin! Be nice to Urahara-san!" Yuzu scolds her twin before turning to Kisuke. "I would love some."

"Great! Choose anything you want, it'll go on your brother's tab," Kisuke says behind his fan. Ichigo's shout of protests went unheard as Yuzu perks up and darts inside.

"Karin, my lovely daughter, why don't you get some as well? I'm sure Ichigo won't mind paying," Isshin adds.

"Well if Ichigo is paying..." With that she follows her twin inside.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo shouts in frustration. Again he goes ignored.

"Urahara." Was all Isshin says, serious.

"So you told him?" said man asks, all play dropped from his tone.

"All three, but not on how."

At this Kisuke nods before turning his back on the two. "You're probably wondering what we're talking about, right?" Ichigo doesn't say anything, already getting a feeling Kisuke already knew the answer. He usually did. "Unfortunately we don't have time to explain right now, but know that it wasn't a hollow that killed your mom that night." With that said Kisuke flicked his fan open and returned inside.

Ichigo whipped his head to look at his dad to see him almost glaring at where Kisuke disappeared to inside.

"What..." Ichigo starts, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Isshin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, not wanting to look his son in the eyes at the moment. "Unfortunately that's a conversation best left for the two of us when there aren't others waiting for your own explanation to things." With that said he too went inside, once again leaving Ichigo alone.

Ichigo stared after his dad with wide eyes, mind whirling. What had Kisuke meant by it wasn't a hollow that killed his mom? What else could it have been? If it wasn't Grand Fisher responsible for his family's pain, then who was it? Who would dare take away his family's sun?

Ichigo grit his teeth and followed everyone inside. He would definitely be demanding answers after all this was done and over with.

Down in the basement, Ichigo let his eyes wander. Yup. Still looked the same from that giant boulder slightly on his left a small distance away to the twig of a tree to his right and the fake sky high above, not including all the countless rocks he couldn't see in the vast underground training room.

Not far in front of him stood an awestruck Yuzu and a bored Karin with his dad and Kisuke. To the left of them sat Maya, Ari, and the flock on some rocks and to the left sat his friends from before his kidnapping to the Vizard sitting not far in front of him on various sized rocks.

To say he was surprised to see the Vizord would be an understatement, but he supposed they would be here as well since he was technically a Vizord as well.

Before anyone could react to him being there, one of his childhood friends decided to make herself known with a sharp punch to Ichigo's jaw making a loud crack as it hit, making him stumble. His hair covered his face as he lifted a hand to gently touch the broken bone, his hollow already working to heal the damage.

"You bastard!" Tatsuki shouted. "Do you have any idea how long you've been gone?!" She reared a leg back and kicked him in the gut, making him drop to his knees as saliva and a little blood came up.

He held his stomach with his forearms as his hollow also worked on the damage there. He heard a growl from his inner world.

Just as Tatsuki was about to go for another kick, Ichigo's giant of a friend, Chad, held her back. It was just enough time to realize why her attacks hurt him the way they did. She was using her spirit energy to hit harder.

"Do you have any idea what we all thought? Or how we felt? Huh?! Answer me, dammit!" she struggled against Chad, but it was useless.

Reaching up, Ichigo wiped the blood and spittle mix from his chin. "Sorry, but I don't." He says as he stands up to look at her, the only thing left from her punch was a disappearing bruise. "This might not make it up, but I'm sorry. If I could have, I would have been back sooner." He glances to Maya and Max before looking to where Tatsuki was still struggling against Chad. "Will you let me tell you all why I wasn't? Or are you going to punch me again?" he says with a hint of humor. He watches as she calms down, but still glares at him.

"Fine, but you had better make it fast." She grits out.

With a nod from Chad, he took Tatsuki back to their friends and set her down where she crossed her arms and glared at Ichigo.

Sweat dripped down Ichigo's brow as he felt the stares of everyone there.

Right... Where to begin...

For the rest of the night Ichigo retold of his story. Of how he was kidnapped on his way home from work to being experimented on. For his sister's sake more than anyone else's, he brushed over the actual experimenting part, not wanting them to worry on what exactly happened. If any of the others asked, he would tell, but not his sisters. Never his sisters.

He explained how he regained his powers, but not that it was just his hollow. That was better left unsaid.

When he got to how he discovered what they were doing to him, it was then that he took off his coat to reveal his wings and tail. Most who saw it gasped, while the rest went wide eyed with shock. The only ones who didn't were those who already knew of his... new additions.

He told of how he met Maya and the others and how he escaped. Much to his displeasure he had to explain how he was able to materialize his hollow in order for them to actually get out of there in one piece, something the Vizord demanded him to do again, which he absolutely refused. Mostly for everyone's safety, but mostly his sisters. He didn't want to scare them. And thanks to Kisuke, he had to summon his zanpakutō as proof he really could summon it while in his living body. After that he could practically see the cogs rolling in Kisuke's head.

He ended his story there, with them escaping, not wanting to reveal the other's secrets.

Unfortunately for him, there was one of Soul Society's greatest mind as his audience and he brought up the question of if they had wings as well. It was then that Max decided to fill in on how they got here, but as soon as Kisuke started prying into their past, that was when her lips sealed shut. That was something she hadn't even told Ichigo yet, not that he really tried.

Then began the questions, not including the technical ones that Kisuke decided it was necessary to ask at that moment.

Did it hurt? What is it like to fly? Why not just blow a hole in the wall sooner? How did you know you could summon your zanpakutō in your physical body? How heavy is your zanpakutō? And of course Yuzu and Karin demanded him to fly them around.

The questions kept coming and Ichigo tried to answer them to the best of his abilities, but when it came to questions about the flock, he revealed nothing.

It wasn't until Yuzu yawned, her candy stash having been long eaten, did anyone bother check what time it was. It was already well into the next day.

Still having to go to school, Chad and the rest left, leaving the vizord and flock as well as Ichigo's family behind. Yuzu curled up against Ichigo and fell asleep while Karin fell asleep against a rock.

Soon after the Vizord left as well, but Ichigo had a feeling they would be paying him a visit again, mostly Shinji and Hiyori.

Max and her flock with Ari and Maya stayed in the underground training room while Isshin took his daughters home, Ichigo telling him he would come by later.

Once everyone had either left or was sleeping, Ichigo flew in the basement for a while, stretching and relaxing his muscles he hadn't realized were so tense. He enjoyed the feeling of the air over his feathers as they gave him lift. He enjoyed his hair whipping about, the ends stinging his face as they whipped around. The way his tail and flight feathers controlled where he went with just the slightest of twitches. The burn of his muscles as they worked to keep him aloft.

He let a relaxed smile spread across his face.

He loved it up here. It was a freedom he couldn't explain. He could just leave his troubles on the ground and disappear for a few hours.

Unfortunately, he had to touch down eventually because even birds needed to land and rest. Not that he needed to rest, he could have flown for much longer, he was just tired and in need of some sleep. Not to mention hungry. He would have to ask someone about that. Definitely not Kisuke, he didn't want to end up owing that man any favors.

Landing, he kept his wings spread to let them cool off as he walked back to his flock. He stopped.

His?

Yes, that sounded right. They were only children on a quest to save the world from something and they needed a protector.

He turns and look up the latter to the entrance of the underground training room with a frown. But his family needed him as well and he couldn't just leave them. He looked back to the sleeping flock. But they needed him as well.

Oh the choices, what was he to choose?

If it came down to following the flock, Ichigo was sure he would go. As much as he hated the thought, his family and friends survived without him this long, he was sure they would survive a little longer without him. With that thought in mind he laid next to Maya with his back to her and fell asleep.

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

Other than being forced into training by Kisuke and showing off his flying to his friends, Ichigo's day was fairly boring.

"Oh, Ichigo-kuuun~!" An annoying voice disturbed Ichigo's sleep. He lifted and draped a wing over his head, blocking out the light and hopefully the voice as well.

That's when the poking started. Not just light poking. No. This was hard and painful poking right between his wings. Of course the nice thing about wings is that with one stretch of his other wing still folded in, Ichigo was able to push Kisuke away from him.

"Aww, that wasn't very nice, Ichigo-kun." Kisuke called with mock hurt.

Ichigo grit his teeth with annoyance. Rolling to his other side Ichigo glared at the shopkeeper. "Since when the hell have we been on a first name basis?"

That annoying fan was out again and in front Kisuke's face, hiding his grin. "Why since you came back from the dead of course."

Ichigo growled and moved to punch him but stopped. It wouldn't be a good example to Angel, Gasman, and Ari for him to punch someone just because he was annoyed with them. Granted they already fight for their lives so why should he care.

Lurching forward faster than any besides Kisuke could see, Ichigo punched Kisuke through his fan. Kisuke lurched back as faux tears streamed down his face.

"Ow! My nose, my beautiful nose!" He said in a slightly nasal voice as he holds said appendage. "I think you broke it!"

"Good. Serves you right for waking me up." Ichigo grumbles.

From the sidelines the flock was staring at them with confusion. Nudge leaned over and whispered to Angel.

"What are they saying?" she whispers.

Angel's only answer was a giggle.

"Now..." Ichigo asks in English as he stands up, working out the kinks in his neck. "What do you want?"

Nose forgotten, Kisuke practically jumps up and waves his broken fan. He looks at it and throws it to the side. "Right!" He becomes serious. "We're going to fight."

Ichigo scrutinized Kisuke. He let out a silent sigh. Of course he wasn't joking. Before he could give his answer he was forced to dodge back or else risk losing his head. He growled in annoyance. And of course it was like Kisuke not to give him a choice and to dive straight into a fight.

By the next swing of Kisuke sword, this one going to gut him, Ichigo had Zangetsu out and blocking the swing. With a growl he didn't retaliate, instead letting Kisuke swing at him while he backed away. He didn't want any of the flock to get hurt by what was about to happen. Once he deemed them at a safe distance he released a small Getsuga to put some space between him and Kisuke.

Dust erupted from the impact, surrounding him, making him squint as he tried to find his opponent. The dust settled to reveal a small fissure from his attack and Kisuke with his Blood Mist Shield, a hexagon-shaped crimson barrier in front of his released blade. Ichigo smirked at Kisuke's widened eyes as a part of the barrier collapsed.

"Haven't you learned by now," Ichigo calls as he holds Zangetsu in front of him, ready for anything his opponent might throw at him, "Not to underestimate me?"

Kisuke smirks and hides his eyes in the shadows of his bucket hat. "How silly of me to forget."

Kisuke blurred out of existence as he flash stepped to Ichigo's left. Seeing it coming, Ichigo parried the blow and retaliated with his own slash, forcing Kisuke back or risk getting wounded across the chest. But Ichigo was far from done.

Not giving Kisuke a chance to recover Ichigo swung his cleaver with all his might in a horizontal swing. Kisuke blocked it, but was forced back from the power of the swing, dust flying up from his landing and where the wind picked up loose dirt.

"Sing, Benihime!" A red slash erupted from Kisuke's blade as he swung his blade.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo shouted as he too slashed down, releasing a large wave of blue spirit energy to counter the red energy coming at him.

The two forces collided only to explode and send dirt and debris in every direction. Flash stepping away Ichigo stood on air just outside of the larger dust cloud, wings slightly unfurled in case of an attack. The dust was beginning to settle when Kisuke came flying out of cloud, aiming at one of his wings. Seeing it coming Ichigo twisted out of the way to land lower down and let the older man fly by him, but not without trying to cut him.

Kisuke was quick in dodging midair and released another red slash. Flaring open his wings, Ichigo created a platform out his spirit energy and shot up out of the way of the attack before diving at his opponent. With a shout he brought Zangetsu down with all his might, trying to cut Kisuke down. Said man grunted as he caught the blade and redirected it, but was surprised when Ichigo managed to bring his sword back and deflect his own blow that would have pierced Ichigo's chest if he had not been fast enough.

Kisuke delivered another quick strike that forced Ichigo back.

It was enough time to see that, even in his living body, Ichigo was able to wield his zanpakutō with little effort, as if he was using it in his soul form. Of course this intrigued him as Ichigo was also able to use that giant cleaver with his large wings as if they had been there his entire life.

Oh the many things he wanted to know, but so little time to actually figure it all out. Oh well, this is what this fight was for.

On the ground, the flock, Maya, and Ari looked on with amazement, and slight worry in Maya's case, as Ichigo fought this eccentric man. None of them could keep up with the battle with their eyes. All they could see were the blur of movement, flashes of sparks that came from their swords colliding, and the echoing clangs of their swords meeting in a dangerous dance of death. Fang grew to respect Ichigo as the battle drew on for hours.

If there was one thing each one would get from this battle, it was to never get on Ichigo's bad side. Or this Kisuke guy.

Ichigo panted as he stood up from where he fell to the ground, sweat dripping from his brow, the large bleeding gash on his wing already knitting closed and feathers regrowing. He didn't have a single scratch on him, but that couldn't be said for his torn clothing. His hollow might be able to heal grievous wounds that would kill any man, but unfortunately clothes were a bit too far out of his range. Also another downside to the constant healing was that it was taking a toll on his stamina. While his hollow left bruises alone, he healed all scratches. He wasn't sure why when normally the smaller ones that didn't hamper his movement were left till the end of the battle to heal or on their own. Was this some kind of training his hollow was doing to him to strengthen his stamina? If so, Ichigo would kick his ass next time he saw him.

Kisuke landed next to him. "Don't tell me that's all you have, Ichigo-kun." Kisuke himself wasn't looking too good himself with the numerous scratches littering his body. Sometime during the fight Kisuke lost his bucket hat showing his messy hat hair matted and clinging to his skin from sweat.

"Oh yeah? What about you, Old Man?"

"Old Man? That hurts Ichigo- _chan._ " Kisuke mocked.

Ichigo stood and wiped drying blood away from the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, but it's true."

Ichigo grunts as he blocked a downward swing of Kisuke's zanpakutō, causing him to slide back a few feet, small dust clouds rising up from the shallow grooves his feet made in the dirt.

They resumed their battle.

Both swung their zanpakutō. A shower of sparks erupted from the blades each time they hit.

Left, right, up, down. There was no pattern to the attacks, only that they had to attack. There was no aiming to injure. There was only the intent to kill with each stroke of the blade, each slash, and each jab. There was no half attempt to kill. It was full attempt and only full attempt. If there was anything less, then the other would die.

This was a dance of death. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Their fight ended when Ichigo slumped against Zangetsu the next day, falling asleep, his healing wounds crawling to a near stop. From the distance they looked as if they weren't healing, but if Kisuke looked hard enough he could see that they were in fact still healing faster than a human could.

"You're one scary kid, Kurosaki." With that said, Kisuke lifted the surprisingly light Ichigo onto his shoulder and moved to pick up Zangetsu only to stop and stare as it disappeared into blue spirit particles. He watched curiously until there was nothing left to show it was ever out, only their battle was the only evidence of the sword being there in the first place.

Turning away he flash stepped back to where his young student's friends were and carefully laid him on the ground.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" One of the clones shouts, Max, he thinks.

He waved her off. "Oh, just had a friendly fight is all."

"You call that friendly?" The other clone speaks up, Maya.

"It looked like you were trying to kill each other," Fang inputs.

"That's because we were," he says a little too cheerfully.

"You what?" Nudge squeaks out from where she knelt next to Ichigo

"The only way for him to learn something is for him to put his life on the line, it's perfectly normal." Kisuke waves his hands at them, sweat dripping down his brow as he tries to calm them. Not having much luck if their angered faces were anything to go by he takes a step back. "I'll just go get Tessai and he'll heal Ichigo right up."

Before any of them could say anything, Kisuke blurred out of existence and disappeared, leaving them alone with an unconscious Ichigo in a destroyed underground training room.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy? Hurting Ichigo like that and then just leaving without leaving anything for us to at least stop the bleeding? I can't believe he would do that.

"But he said someone would come and heal him," Gasman argues.

Max rolls her eyes. "That's beside the point. Just another reason not to trust adults."

 ** _BW – B/MR_**

 **Ichigo is about 18 ½ years old by now, give or take a month.**

 **Who do I love? Kisuke. Why? I have no idea. I fell in love with his character the moment I saw him. -Not like that ya idjits!-**

 ** _Explanations:_**

 ** _Fight scene:_ I'm not a huge fan of the fight scene, but I was trying something different. I read somewhere to not add in a whole bunch of details when it comes to fights and blood and gore and instead add minimal details so that the reader's mind can fill in the space with how they see things. I don't know how well I put that across up there, but I hope well enough. Oh and then there's the fact I had a bit more written there, but Word DELETED IT ALL. *ahem* Anyways, don't worry, not all fight scenes will be like this. Tell me what your thoughts on it are and let me know how I can improve. (In case you haven't figured it out, I love to improve my writing. If you read my work from a few years ago you would understand why.)**

 ** _Ichigo and Fang:_ I just see their personalities clashing every time I imagine them meeting. Add Maya into the mix? Definitely going to have issues there. However, I can also see Fang growing to appreciate Ichigo and what he can do after seeing him fight nonstop for a day.**

 ** _Ichigo growing tired too fast:_ Our favorite hollow was at work here. It might have been in the background, but it played a major part in the outcome of the fight between Kisuke and Ichigo. Why? Because it takes up a lot of stamina to constantly heal injuries, especially ones that go to the bone. Normally Ichigo can go for days without tiring, but put under the strain of constant healing? Even Ichigo is hard pressed to do that. Also his hollow did it to get Ichigo to work harder into getting his stamina up for when there are those times when he will have to fight for days on end with no rest. I mean, just look at the fiasco that is the Winter War.**

 **Ah... What else...**

 **I can't really think of anything else to explain at the moment. If something confuses you or you have any question, don't be afraid to ask.**

 **Terribly sorry if I messed any Japanese things up. I'm trying to learn the language and the culture, but it's a slow go when I can't afford any proper learning material and am stuck to Google.**

 **Please review and tell me what you thought. Remember, don't be afraid to ask. All flames will be fed to Natsu.**


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